Drawn In
by Savory
Summary: Bella's first year of college started out great. Her best friend Alice was with her and she was on her own for the first time. But one awful night threatens to take it all away. Will the one she has a crush on, Edward Cullen, be the one to save her?
1. Chapter 1

**SM owns all things Twilight**

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**Preface**

I could see light ahead, I could see the dorm ahead and I knew that I was safe, just a few feet further. I tried to scream again and the faintest noise came out. The sound of my voice gave me even more strength to try again. I kept screaming until I was sure someone else would hear me, they would all hear me. And then they were there, safe arms, safe arms around me, holding me as I collapsed. Safe arms that pulled me inside and out of danger.

"Bella? Oh God Bella what happened?" His voice was like silk and then everything went black.

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**Chapter One**

"Dad, you can let go now… I can barely breathe." I squirmed to free myself from my dad's vise grip of a bear hug.

"I know" he paused "I'm just not ready yet." He said quietly.

"Honey we have talked about this, she is a grown up now." My mother said to him while trying to pry me out of his grip.

"Just because she is starting college does not mean she is a grown up." He retorted. "I'm just not ready to let her go yet." He actually looked like his was going to cry as he loosened his grip and let me go finally.

"I love you daddy. I will always be your little girl no matter what." I smiled up at him and kissed his cheek.

"I love you too, Bells." He kissed my forehead and walked away not looking back. He didn't want me to see him cry. "Remember to keep your cell phone and pepper spray with you at all times." I could barely hear him now. _Always the cop_ I thought to myself.

"He'll be ok, just give him some time." My mother walked over to hug me goodbye. "I love you sweetie. Have fun, be good and be safe."

"I will mom, I love you too." I smiled and kissed her goodbye as well.

And with that my parents were gone, leaving me to start my first year at the University of Washington. It had taken my parents and me a little over an hour to unload my stuff and move into my new dorm room. My dad was not happy about the fact my new dorm was a co-ed dorm, but he did calm down a bit when he learned that boys and girls were separated by floors. Truth be told, he was not happy about letting me leave our small town of Forks, about letting me leave his protective eyes and watch over me. As the Chief of Police he felt he knew everything that happened in my life and for the most part he did. I really never could hide anything from him, not that there was really anything to ever hide.

I know it was hard for both mom and dad to let me go. Being an only child has its advantages but also its drawbacks. I did everything with my parents and I know it's going to be hard for them to adjust to me not being at home. I was lucky to be so close to my mom and in a way she was one of my best friends. We would just talk for hours about nothing and everything. I had promised her that we would still be able to do this, through calls and e-mail. However, I could see the war going on in her mind, the war between losing me and needing to let me go.

I knew I was going to miss them but at the same time I was so excited about being on my own, well as on my own as I can be in a college dorm, and taking my first steps toward being an adult. I knew my parents were very protective, more my dad then my mom, but I never felt under their thumb. I knew I had the freedom to make my own decisions, but the thought of my dad's disappointment was always there and it kept me from doing anything crazy or rebellious. But now I started to feel like I could be a little crazy. That I could do things that might be a mistake, that might make my dad feel disappointment towards me and I kind of liked that idea. It made me feel like a grown up, even though I was not yet legally one.

That was another point of contention with my father. The fact I was starting college at the age of 17. It wasn't my fault I was born in September. I was always younger then my classmates. I started school when I was four and had heard my mother recount the story many, many times about being so little I could barely reach the door handle to open it and about how much it made her cry. But I was going to be 18 in a few weeks and then it wouldn't really matter. My father still didn't like the idea of it though.

As I looked around my new room I sighed. I was here, I was really here. For the past three months all I could think about was going away to school. My best friend Alice was going to be my roommate. Alice and I had been best friends since we were little girls. We did everything together and we never thought twice about going to different schools.

Our friends, Mike, Tyler, Eric and Angela were also going to school here. We had all been pleased to learn we were going to be in the same dorm. Angela's room was two doors down from us and the guys were three floors below ours. Alice's older brother Emmett who was a junior here was also on the same floor as the guys. Emmett was a huge bear of a guy but had the heart of a saint. He was the big brother I had always wanted. He saw Alice and me the same way; we were both his little sisters. I had really missed him the past two years while he was away at school and I was looking forward to being able to see him more often.

"Bella" squealed my tiny best friend as she bounced into the room hugging me and spinning me around! "I am so glad you are finally here! What took you so long? I was here four hours ago. You know I don't like to be left alone for too long!" Alice stomped her foot and pouted out her lower lip.

My dear sweet Alice was a bundle of energy and it did not do well for her to be left alone. The more time she was, the more the energy grew and then God help the first person she encountered. Alice and I were exact opposites. Alice never met a stranger and was friendly with everyone. She drew so much attention to herself when she walked into a room, not by her actions but just by the energy that rolled off of her. I on the other hand was quiet, shy and reserved. I let my heart take over too quickly sometimes and always felt the urge to take care of others. I was content to stand back on the sidelines and watch her get all of the attention, but she refused to let me. She wanted me front and center where she was.

She always said we were our own version of soul mates. Not in a romantic way, but in the way we completed each other as a person. The two of us together made the best possible person, her energy and joy, my heart and soul. She seemed a little touched when she talked like that, but I knew she was right. I missed her when we weren't together, like I had lost a part of myself and she said the same about me. We knew each other so well we didn't even need to speak, we just knew.

"You know Charlie; he was in no hurry to bring me here, still trying to figure out a way to keep me at home. First he couldn't find his keys, than he said he forgot to check the tires, than he said something about checking in a work before he left. Finally Renee told him she would cut him off if he did not get in the car." I was still trying to get that mental image out of my head.

"Eww that's gross, as gross as thinking about my mom and dad!" Alice laughed while shaking her head.

"I went down and found Mike, Eric and Tyler's room, and get this they are across the hall from the Head Resident Advisor's room. The same room Emmett is in."

"Em is rooming with the head RA? How on earth did that happen?"

"He is a frat brother of Em's and they were roommates last year as well, but he was a floor RA then. And you know he spends all of his time at Rosie's anyway so it really doesn't matter." Emmett had met Rosalie his freshman year here and they have been dating every since. I had met her a few times and she seemed nice, although a bit stand offish. She was by far the prettiest girl I have ever seen and she seems to know it. She had a place right off campus and we all knew her and Em were living together even though it never was made official.

"Did you get to meet him?"

"Who?" Alice asked, not really paying attention because she was going through some of my boxes.

"Em's roommate, the head RA? The guys could be in for a rough year if he is a real hard ass."

"Edward, yeah I got to meet him, he seemed pretty cool."

"That's it?" I knew there had to be more.

"Well" here we go "His last name is Cullen and he is from Chicago. He is pre-med and the same year as Em. His dad is a doctor and his mom designs houses. He is an only child and very smart. He also likes all types of music and movies and enjoys reading. He is very soulful!" All of that in one breathe "Plus he reminds me of someone else I know, but I cannot quite but my finger on it yet."

"Wow Alice, how long were you down there that you got all of that information?" I asked, knowing full well Alice could get all the information she needed on someone in just a matter of minutes. She should be an interrogator or something with the talent that she possessed. I looked over at her and she grinned from ear to ear. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes. She was holding something back.

"Alice McCarty what are you up to; I can tell from that look on your face, you are holding something back."

She was like a bomb, ready to explode. "Edward. Is. Beautiful. I mean really beautiful, you have to see this guy!" There was my boy crazy Alice. "Of course Em did tell him he would kill him if he even thought about asking me out though! Total buzz kill! So then I thought you would be the one to go out with him and I can live vicariously through you!" She grinned even bigger this time.

"Yeah right whatever" I just rolled my eyes. "Like a beautiful junior would waste time thinking about going out with a freshman, let alone me."

"Bella, oh my beautiful Bella." She rolled her eyes this time. She hated it when I didn't see myself the same way she did. "What am I going to do with you?" I never thought of myself as something special. I wasn't ugly, but I never thought of myself as more than just normal or even average. Alice for some reason thought I was more. Crazy Alice, she was the second prettiest girl I had ever seen. She was great though; she never did anything to make me feel out of place and always told me how beautiful I was.

"Come on, let's go find the guys." She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room and towards the elevator.

"Bella!" Mike jumped up from his chair and ran over to greet me, pulling me into a big hug. "About time you got here, Alice has been driving us crazy for the past hour." The guy's had been here for just a few hours and already they had turned the room into a typical guy's dorm room. They had moved the beds up on wooden stilts so they were lofts, giving them more room to put in a couch, fridge, computer, TV and stereo underneath. Posters of half naked girls were lying on one of the desks and Tyler and Eric were fighting over where the posters were going to go. They both stopped for a moment and looked up to smile and wave hello.

"I told you guys you were not putting those up" Alice screamed "I refuse to come in here and be subjected to that kind of objectification on a daily basis." She stormed into their room past Mike and I who were still standing in the doorway.

"So here we are, big college students now, can you believe it?" Mike asked. "I bet now you're away from your dad's protective eyes you are going to get a little wild!" he laughed at the idea but I swear it also looked like he had a little hope in his eyes.

"Just because she is no longer under her dad's eye, doesn't mean she isn't being watched and let me tell you now, anyone who tries to make her wild will have to deal with me." The big voice could only belong to my wonderful Emmett. Before I could turn around his big arms grabbed me from the doorway and pulled he away.

"Bella, my beautiful little sis." Emmett said "How the hell are you little one? I have missed you!" Emmett had spent most of the summer here in Seattle working and I had not seen him for months. He pulled me across the hall and into his room, spinning me around, giving me a huge bear hug and slopping my cheek with kisses. I was going to be black and blue by the end of this day.

"About time her other half got here. Someone has to rein her in, she is going crazy!" He grinned and nodded his head across the hall. Alice's voice could be heard everywhere, she was still fussing with the guys over their choice of room décor.

Emmett put me down and I took a look around his room. It was huge compared to the other dorm rooms. There was a small kitchenette, room for a proper living room set up and there were only two beds. There was even a bathroom with an actual shower, no common shower room for these guys. Guess being the head RA has its benefits.

"Em this room is so big. How on earth did you manage this?"

"It's all about who you know." He grinned from ear to ear, typical Em.

"Emmett man your sister is going to drive those poor boys crazy, you are going to have to go and rescue them." Said the most amazing voice I have heard in my life. I had goose bumps and didn't know why, that was until I turned around towards the voice. In the room walked the best looking guy I have ever seen. He was tall and lean, but with well defined muscles. His hair was bronze and his eyes were the most amazing shade of green. He looked like he had just stepped out of a magazine or out of the pages of one of the books I loved to read. He wasn't real, he couldn't be real. Men did not look like him.

"I know, I know." Emmett shook his head in mock shame. "Edward I would like you to meet Alice's best friend, Bella. She is the other little sister I was telling you about." Em said as he was walking out of the room. What was that? He had talked to him about me? Was Emmett warning him about me as well?

"Edward Cullen, It is nice to meet you." He extended his hand to shake. Alice was right, he was beautiful.

"Bella Swan" my voice cracked "It's…nice… to meet you too." I put my hand into his to shake. He had a firm hand shake but his skin was very warm and felt like silk. I felt a spark and for a moment I thought he felt it too because he just held on to my hand, but then he looked up at me and quickly let it go.

"If you need anything let me or your floor RA know." He flashed a smile that almost brought me to my knees. I was a goner! Major crush setting in!

"Thanks" my voice cracked again. I had to get out of there before I did or said something stupid.

"Bella!" Alice's voice screamed from across the hall. "I need you now!"

"I better go see what she needs." I stammered half mortified and half relieved that she was getting me out of there.

"Good luck with that." He smiled at me again "I think you are going to need it."

I hurried back across the hall into the guy's room and found Emmett helping them hang their posters while Alice stood there stomping her feet. Big brother wins again. I knew there was nothing I could do or say to make it better.

After the last poster went up, Alice had all that she could stand and she stomped out of the room. Not paying attention to where she was going, when she turned the corner, she ran into a boy in the hall, knocking him down. On his way down he grabbed Alice's arm trying to get his balance, instead pulling her down with him. When they landed on the ground, she was sprawled out on top of him.

"Shit" he said

"I… am… so sorry!" Alice stammered trying to pick herself up, but as she looked into his eyes, she froze.

"What the hell" Emmett's voice boomed from the room. He bolted out into the hallway to check on his sister and busted out laughing when he saw Alice lying on top of the boy.

"Jasper, I would like you to meet my little sister Alice." Emmett said

"Nice to meet you" They both said at the same time, never taking their eyes off of each other. Typical, Alice, falling in love right before school starts. But it looks like she may not be the only one.

Edward came out into the hallway to check on the noise as well. "Jasper, what on earth?" He said as he went over to pull Alice off of him. "What have I told you about falling all over women?" He was laughing as well as he next helped Jasper up.

"Bite me Edward!" Jasper smirked, never taking his eyes off of Alice. Yeah, he was a goner!


	2. Chapter 2

**SM owns all things Twilight**

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**Chapter Two**

Classes started a few days later and it didn't take long to fall into a routine. Alice and I ended up having two classes together and I had a class with Mike as well. It was nice to know someone in at least a few of my classes. Coming from such a small town and small school to this big town and big school was pretty intimidating.

Alice and Jasper were officially a couple within a week of their "run in" as Alice liked to refer to it. Jasper was another of Emmett and Edward's frat brothers and despite Em's initial concerns; he seemed to be ok with the pairing. They made a cute couple, somewhat gooey at times, but I was happy for her, because she was very happy.

Jasper's room was next door to Mike, Tyler and Eric's room so it was easy for Alice to still hang out with us and Jasper at the same time. Although he was a junior he didn't mind hanging out with a bunch of freshman when he wasn't at the house with his brothers. We spent a good deal of time in the guy's room and it helped to make this place feel more like home. Jasper's roommate, a sophomore named Ben, had been hanging out with us as well and he and Angela seemed to be heading down the same road as Jasper and Alice.

I wasn't sure if it was in lieu of her happiness or her still wanting to live vicariously through me but she did everything she could to try and push Edward and I together. I made the mistake of telling her that I did have a crush on him and that seemed to thrill her. Even when she found out he had a girlfriend, she didn't care. "Tanya is not a real girlfriend" she said when I reminded her of this. "Em says they are about to break up anyway, something about her not being a nice person."

Mike on the other hand had other ideas. I thought maybe it was all of the new found couples but he seemed to be showing too much attention to me, like he thought we should be a couple as well. Mike was a nice looking guy and had always been so sweet to me in high school, but I thought of him more as a brother than anything else.

The morning of my 18th birthday, Alice woke me up jumping on my bed. "Wake up sleepy head! It's your big day!" I rolled over trying to get back to sleep before my actual alarm went off, but she was having no part of it. I rolled back over to face her and was surprised to see the room was filled with balloons.

"Alice, when the hell did you do this?" I groaned.

"You know me, stealth like a fox!" I swear her grin could light up all of Seattle. She bounced off my bed and walked over to her desk. She had a box full of cupcakes from a local bakery and a big yellow wrapped box waiting for me.

"Alice!" I shook my head, knowing there was no way out of her joy.

Other then the crazy way I was woken up, the day was rather calm. Alice had gotten me a new outfit to wear out. She always thought I should dress more to my body type. I think that was her way of saying I needed to show off my curves, but that wasn't my style. I liked comfort, not sex appeal.

My parents called me to wish me Happy Birthday, Emmett and the guys all sang to me. I thought I was getting off easy. Alice liked to throw parties and I figured she would do something big but she was calm. That was until the next night, which was a Friday.

We were suppose to stop by Emmett's room for a minute to pick up a sweater Alice had left there before going out to a movie. A sweater that would match the outfit that Alice had gotten me that she insisted I wear tonight. I should have known, I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. Alice knocked lightly on the door and called Emmett's name before throwing the door wide open.

"_**SURPRISE!" **_

The room was filled with people, balloons, flowers, banners and streamers. I knew my face had to be beet red. I couldn't believe she had done this. I was speechless! All of my friends were there; the ones from home and new ones that I had meet since school started. Emmett, Rose and Jasper were there and even Edward was there. I couldn't believe he was standing there in all of his glory. How the hell had Alice done this?

The night was not as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't like to be the center of attention, but Alice stayed near me, never leaving me alone for too long. Different people hovered around me all night and it was nice to get to see everyone. Alice made sure I was not monopolized by any one person especially Mike. Although she did relinquish me long enough to Emmett for us to dance. There was music, dancing, food and laughter. It was great, but all night long I found myself watching Edward. Trying to see if he really wanted to be here or if he was here just to make sure nothing got out of hand. At one point he was talking to Emmett and I swear it looked like there were talking about me with the way they were both staring at me, Em with that big goofy grin on his face. Our eyes met when they were talking and he smiled, but I looked away quickly, embarrassed that he caught me looking at him.

Things dwindled down around 1:30 am and Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rose, Edward and I were left to clean up the room. I was taking down some of the streamers when I saw Edward coming my way with a trash bag in his hands.

"Did you enjoy your party?" he asked holding the bag open for me. How is possible for a guy to have a silky voice like that?

"I did, it was great. It was very nice of you and Em to let her use your room like this."

"It was our pleasure. Alice had a ball decorating it today. Seeing how energetic she was about this, I'm surprised she was able to keep it from you."

"Yeah well Alice knows if she hadn't kept it from me, I wouldn't have come." I said while looking at her. She was grinning from ear to ear as she tried not to listen in on our conversation.

"You don't like parties?" he asked a little surprised

"No it's not that. I…well…" I stammered sounding like an idiot! "Well I'm not really one to be at the center of things I guess you could say." I looked up at him with a half grin. I should have known better then to do that. Our eyes met and I was once again speechless.

"I can tell that about you. But everyone deserves to have a little bit of attention on their birthday, especially someone like you." He put his hand on my arm, rubbing it gently. I could feel that same spark that I felt the first time he shook my hand. "Happy Birthday Bella! I hope all of your wishes come true." He smiled again and walked off, going back to clean up duty.

I was speechless. My mind was trying to figure out what he meant when he said that. _Especially someone like you_. And the way his touch felt on my arm. I just stood there, looking very stupid I was sure.

Alice's giggle in my ear broke me from my trance. "I would say one of your wishes just came true." She whispered.

From that day on, Alice did all that she could to have Edward and I speaking to each other. When Edward was on duty and making rounds he would always stop by the room and say hello. Our door was usually opened so I just figured he was being polite. Alice never missed a chance to mention some random thing about me which would make me blush with embarrassment. Edward would always smile and nod his head. I could tell he was only being nice, not really interested in me or my past or future endeavors.

Mike, Tyler and Eric decided to rush Sigma Phi Epsilon which was the same fraternity as Em, Jasper and Edward. During their rush week, the Sig Eps had a party and we were all invited to go. The Sig Ep house was nicer than what I thought it would be based on some of the stories we had heard on campus about frat houses. They had a huge dance floor in the basement of the house and a small bar that sat to the left of the dance floor. There was a bathroom down stairs as well, but it was gross. Luckily having an in with Jasper and Em, we didn't have anything to worry about, as they took us upstairs to the living quarters, where the others were not allowed to go.

The music that night was great. It was so much fun just hanging out with friends, dancing and having a good time. It was crowded and hot, but we didn't care. This seemed like one of those great things we had always dreamed about the college life. As the party started to dwindle down, Jasper and Em invited us to the main floor to hang out with the brothers and the new pledges. When we got upstairs, Em offered all of us a drink from the keg.

Being a cop's daughter, I knew I should not take the offer, but I figured it was just a part of being in college as well so I readily accepted the cup of beer. I took a sip and immediately regretted it. It was bitter and not at all what I thought it would be. I didn't want to seem like a prude, so I just held onto the cup and occasionally would grimace through another sip.

Mike and the other guys seemed all too happy to take the offer and knocked back several cups in a few minutes. I could tell they all had a good buzz going and when Mike came over and sat beside me on the couch, I had a sense of dread. He looked like he had suddenly developed this large amount of courage. Maybe he thought I was drunk as well but when he sat down he put one arm around me and his other hand on my knee. I smiled at him and tired to work my way out from under his grip by moving to talk to Alice who was on my other side. When that didn't seem to work, I tried to get up to excuse myself to the restroom when Mike grabbed my hand and pulled me down into his lap.

"Where you going baby?" he asked.

"I was going to the restroom Mike." I said as I tried to free myself from his lap.

"Do you want me to come?" he grinned

"No, I think I can manage it own my own, thank you." I was able to wiggle myself out of his lap and started to walk away but he grabbed my hand to stop me.

"Come on Bella, you know I like you. I have had a major crush on you since high school." I paused for a moment, hoping no one else had heard him when Alice piped up.

"Sorry Mike, she has a crush on Edward." Just as she began saying this the music in the room stopped and everything was quiet so everyone in the room heard her. I froze in my tracks. All eyes turned to look at me, including Edward who had just walked into the room. Shit! I am going to kill Alice. I made the mistake of glancing for a moment in Edward's direction and I swear his face was as red as I am sure mine was. I looked away quickly, totally mortified.

Emmett came to my rescue, announcing to Jasper it was time for them to take Alice and I back to the dorm. Mike started to get up and come along too, but Emmett pushed him back down on the couch. "Ladies first pledge, we will come back for you guys later."

Emmett put his arm around me and led me out of the room. Rosalie, Alice and Jasper followed us.

"Thank you Em" I whispered.

"No problem, little one. Don't worry; everyone will think Alice was drunk and silly." He whispered back, pulling me in to him tighter.

The ride was very quiet. I stared out the window the whole time, replaying the whole scene over and over again in my head. First the declaration of love or should I say lust from Mike and then Alice's announcement to everyone that I had a crush on Edward, each time the scene played out, it just got worse and worse.

Em dropped us off at the dorm and left to bring the other guys back. Jasper said goodnight to Alice as I grabbed the elevator to our room. Within a few minutes of being in the room, Alice came bouncing in as if nothing had happened.

"What the hell were you thinking Alice?" I sternly said, holding back my anger so that I wouldn't scream and wake the others on the hall that were asleep.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently

"Are you drunk or just stupid?" I said, my voice raising a bit more. Alice looked at me like I had just slapped her. I had never yelled at her before let alone being so anger and cruel. She lowered her shoulders and than her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry Bella, I didn't mean to say it so loud." She sounded so dejected.

"I was trying to help you with Mike and I thought if he knew you liked someone else he would leave you alone."

I knew she meant well and I just sighed, walking over to her and hugging her.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it. I was just embarrassed and then with the whole Mike thing before that. I just let my temper get the better of me."

"Do you forgive me?" She asked looking up at me with sad puppy dog eyes.

"Of course I do. Do you forgive me?"

"Yes" she shrilled "So what did you think about the party?"

Leave it to Alice to be able to do an about face and move on to another topic. We spent the next hour going over the night before the admissions. I feel asleep as Alice was talking and luckily she let me.


	3. Chapter 3

**SM own all things Twilight**

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**Chapter Three**

The next day Mike felt the need to apologize to me every time he saw me, which he made a point to make as often as possible. I kept telling him that it was ok but I could tell he was hoping that I would admit to him that Alice was wrong and that I did have feelings for him as well. By the end of the day with no hope of an admission on my part, he let it drop.

Edward never said a word to me or anyone else about what happened and luckily neither did Em or Jasper. Edward was still polite when he was around me but there was this awkwardness and I was sure he was only polite because of Em. Not that I ever really thought there was a chance with Edward, but it hurt a little to think he saw me as a silly kid who had a crush that he needed to humor because of his friend. Crushes really did suck sometimes.

Other than a few hurt feelings, things fell back into the routine pretty quickly. The guys became Sig Ep brothers and seemed to enjoy being in a frat. Em became Mike's big brother which worked to my benefit because he made sure Mike knew there would be no dating "his little sister" and Mike backed off completely. So time passed on and everything was good.

November rolled around as did Homecoming weekend. The Thursday before the big game, Em, Alice, Rosalie and Jasper went back to Forks to celebrate Em's and Alice's parents 25th anniversary. They had invited me to go but I had a big speech I had to give in my Speech class that Friday and could not go. Besides they were coming back early Saturday to go to the game and all of the parties that were going on that night. Knowing I was going to be on my own, the guys invited me to their room Friday night to watch movies and eat pizza. Even though Mike had been well behaved I was a little leery of being in a dark room with him, but I really did not want to hang out in my room alone on a Friday night and I felt safer with Eric and Tyler being there.

I was nervous about giving my speech as I was never crazy about being in front of a group with all of the attention on me. I managed to make my way through without passing out or throwing up and actually felt good about myself. I had some time to kill before I was suppose to meet the guys for movie night and decided to go to the library to work on a research paper I had due in my English class before Thanksgiving break. I was supposed to meet the guys at 8:00 o'clock. I had been working for awhile and stopped to look at the clock thinking it was around 6 but it was 7:45. I was so absorbed in my research that I lost track of time. I sent a quick text to Mike to let him know I was leaving the library and that I was going to be late. Even though I could make it to the dorm in 15 minutes I wanted to go by my room and change first.

There was a path behind one of the churches on campus that led to our dorm. It was a short cut that we used all of the time instead of walking around. The path had a fence on one side and backed up to the woods on another. It was shaded during the day and pretty dark at night and it was now night. I debated about taking the path or taking the long way around. I hate being late for anything and even though Mike knew I was going to be late, I still didn't want to be too late. I decide to take the path because I knew it so well and because I felt safe on the campus.

I was about half way down the path and the trepidation I was feeling before was just about gone when I heard a noise coming from the woods just behind me. I froze for a moment and summoned up all of my courage to look around to see if there was anything or anyone there. I didn't see anything and I told myself it was probably just a branch falling when I heard the noise again. Panic began to set in and I decided it was best to run. I would rather feel stupid than be right about someone following me. I took off running but the next thing I knew I was on the ground.

At first I thought I had tripped but then I could tell that someone was on top of me, someone had knocked me down. My worst fears were coming true. I tried to get away, to scream but my head was being pushed into the ground. Next I was being pulled around, still trying to get away. Before I could get a look at my attackers face I felt a sharp blow to the left side of my face. Everything went blurry and my head was pounding.

"Don't fight me baby; I have waited too long for this." He whispered into my ear, his voice was rough and his breath was disgusting. I suddenly felt something cold and sharp against my neck.

My mind was racing, w_here is my pepper spray? Why did I take that short cut? Why is this happening to me? Dear God, please help me, please don't let this happen to me._

His mouth was suddenly on mine but I held my lips tightly together. The taste of his mouth made me want to throw up. My resistance to his kiss seemed to anger him and he grabbed my head and knocked it into the ground. "I said don't fight me bitch!" He pressed the knife further into my neck and I could feel it breaking the skin, blood trickling down my neck.

With his other hand he tried to take my jacket off. He struggled with doing this one handed so he straddled me and with both hands he shoved my jacket off of me, next taking the knife he split open my shirt so my upper body was exposed. My whole body hurt and I still couldn't see his face because I couldn't see clearly. My head was killing me and I could feel the tears running down my face. _Please God, please God, please God, please help me._

"Even better than I thought" he smirked to himself and then he bent down to try and kiss me again. He suddenly stopped when he heard voices. Someone, several someones it sounded like were coming down the path. My prayers were being answered. I thought he would run off. "Damn it!" he said instead. The next thing I knew he stood up, picking me up by my throat dragging me into the woods so that we were out of sight of the path. He shoved me up against a tree, keeping his hand around my neck. His grip was so tight I could barely breathe.

"Don't move, don't make a sound" The crowd grew louder as they passed us and then the noise became distant, further away. And then there was no noise at all, just the sound of his breathing. "I like being this close to you." He leaned in again to kiss me. The stench of his breath was horrible. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I couldn't think. With his free hand he traced his fingers down my collar bone, down my neck, down my chest to my breast. He grabbed one breast and then the other. "Like I said even better than I thought." He repeated again.

His doing this to me was just too much. My mind started screaming at me to do something. I decided right then and there that I would rather die than have him violate me, rather die than have him get any enjoyment out of this. He had a knife and I was pretty sure he would kill me if I fought, but I could not just let this happen. Gaining all of the strength that I could I drew my knee up and caught him in the groin. He doubled over and fell to the ground.

Once he dropped his grip on my neck, I gasped for air. I started to move, but could not because I was still grasping for air. He was rolling in pain and my mind fought with my body to move, _move your ass_ _now, you have a chance to get away, move it now before this asshole kills you_. I gathered all my strength again and started to move, stumbling as I did. Before I could move further, he grabbed my leg and there was a sharp pain in my calf, he had cut my leg with the knife. He tried to pull himself back onto me but I couldn't let him, would not let him so I kicked him in the head and face. He screamed out in pain and I knew this was my only chance. I stood up to run again, the shooting pain from the cut on my leg almost caused me to buckle over but I somehow managed to stay up and make it back to the path. My vision was coming back into focus and I tried to scream for help but I had no voice and every time I tried, my throat screamed at me in pain. I just ran, not even sure which way I was going but I knew I had to find someone to help me, knew I had to get out of there. I was alive for now and he had not raped me.

I could see light ahead, I could see the dorm ahead and I knew that I was safe, just a few feet further. I tried to scream again and the faintest noise came out. The sound of my voice gave me even more strength to try again. I kept screaming until I was sure someone else would hear me, they would all hear me. And then they were there, safe arms, safe arms around me, holding me as I collapsed. Safe arms that pulled me inside and out of danger.

"Bella? Oh God Bella what happened?" His voice was like silk and then everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

**SM owns all things Twilight**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

I had just finished making my rounds and was back at the check in desk when Ben and Angela walked up to the vending area to get a drink.

"Hey guys, what are you up to tonight?" I asked them

"Hey Edward. We are watching movies in Mike's room and eating pizza." Ben answered

"Sounds like fun, what are you watching?"

"_The Professional_" he answered

"Ah great movie."

"Edward, you haven't seen Bella come in yet have you?" Angela asked.

"No, but I just got back from making rounds, so she could have come in. Is something wrong?" Angela's concerned look suddenly had me a little worried.

"Well she is supposed to be joining us for movie night. She sent a text to Mike saying she was just leaving the library and would be a few minutes late, but that was about 25 minutes ago and she isn't answering our texts now."

Even if you walked, the library was ten minutes tops from the dorm. What I know about Bella, she didn't seem the type to not respond to someone or to make a detour when she tells you that she is going to be somewhere at a certain time. In fact I can remember several times listening to her fuss at Alice for making them late to class or some other function.

"Maybe she ran into someone at the library on her way out and just hasn't heard her phone yet." _Did_ _Angela really buy that? Did I?_ I had to admit I was a little worried, but I could not panic, it would go against the whole head RA image. "When I see her I will be sure to let her know you guys are waiting for her."

Angela still looked concerned but she smiled and nodded a thank you. As they started to walk off faint screams could be heard. They both stopped and looked my way.

"Sounds like someone is having fun" I said wondering which floor the screams were coming from. But suddenly the screams were getting louder and they seemed to be coming from outside and these screams were not from someone having fun, these were blood curdling screams. I rushed out from the desk and headed for the door. Stepping outside I looked around and the screams were even louder, coming up from behind. I turned around just in time for someone to crash into my arms. I grabbed a hold of the girl trying to hold her up when I noticed she was not wearing a jacket and her shirt was cut open. Her hair was full of dirt and leaves and the back of her shirt was filthy. I grabbed the door to take her back into the dorm when her head fell back and I could see her face for the first time. Bella, oh my God, Bella. There was blood dripping down her neck and her face was cut and black and blue. I pulled her into the dorm, her body falling into me more with each step.

"Bella? Oh God Bella what happened?" As soon as I got the words out she went limp.

Ben and Angela were waiting inside the door to see what the noise was and when Angela saw it was Bella, she let out a gasp.

"Oh my God, it's Bella." She yelled

"Ben, call 911 right now." I barked at Ben not really meaning for my words to come out that way, but I was so scared at that moment. Bella was lifeless. She had bruises all over her arms and on her neck you could make out the shape of someone's large hand. There was a cut at the calf of her jeans and there was blood coming out of the cut. I pulled her jean leg up and could see the wound on her calf. I knew I needed to add pressure to the wound to help stop the bleeding. I looked around for something to apply when I noticed Angela had a sweater tied around her waist.

"Angela, we need to stop the bleeding from the wound on her leg. Would you please take your sweater off? We can use it apply pressure to help slow or stop the bleeding." Angela nodded and took her sweater off handing it in my direction. "If you would please, hold it tight against the wound?" She hesitated like she was afraid she was going to hurt her. "It's ok Angela; it will help her I promise." She placed the sweater on her leg and held on to it.

"An ambulance and the police are on their way." Ben said hanging up his phone. "What the hell happened to her?"

"It looks like she has been attacked." I whispered, not wanting to believe my own words. I could see tears starting to fall from Angela's eyes.

"Bella, can you hear me?" I tried to shake her but was afraid to hurt her, she looked broken. "Bella, sweetie can you hear me?" Her body twitched and she looked like she was coming around.

"God, please help me." She whispered "please, please help me." She began to open her eyes and at the same time she seemed to sense someone was holding her and she bolted back as if to escape from me.

"Bella it's ok." I told her trying to calm her "Bella, it's me, its Edward. You are safe inside the dorm. The police and an ambulance are coming any minute now."

She looked around her for a moment and them seemed to gain her bearings better, seemed to recognize where she was. "Edward?" her voice was raspy and rough.

"Yes sweetie, it's me." She jumped back into my arms, holding tightly onto me like her life depended on it. I wrapped my arms around her to let her know she was safe.

"Bella, what happened to you?" Angela asked timidly reapplying pressure to her leg, pressure which had been broken when Bella moved away from me seconds before.

She pushed herself back from my chest and looked over at Angela. "I was walking back from the library on the path when someone, some guy attacked me." She whispered, barely able to get the words out. With this Angela's tears begin to fall heavier. Bella lifted her hand and she tried to wipe the tears from her face. She had to be in shock, why would she try and comfort someone else at this moment. She suddenly seemed to be aware of the fact her shirt was cut open and that she was exposed. She quickly pulled her hand away from Angela's face and tried to cover herself.

"Ben, my jacket is over there on that chair, could you hand it to me please?" When he gave it to me, I wrapped it around Bella. She looked up at me with so much gratitude and love in her eyes that I just about started to cry myself. I wrapped my arms around her tighter to let her know she was safe.

A few minutes later the police arrived and shortly thereafter an ambulance. Everything seemed to fade into a blur. The EMT's were tending to Bella's wounds and trying to asses her condition. The police were trying to ask her questions, but she could barely speak to answer them. She looked so lost and so scared and I couldn't even imagine what was going through her head at this moment. I just wanted to go over to her and hold her hand, try and make her feel safe.

Mike, Tyler and Eric had joined the crowd and her friends stood there with stunned looks on their faces, looking at their broken friend.

They were about to load her into the ambulance when the look on her face consumed me and I asked the EMT if I could ride along with Bella to the hospital. I could not for the life of me figure out why I needed to be with her, but I knew I would go crazy if she left by herself. The EMT's looked to Bella to make sure it was ok and she nodded yes. I climbed into the rig and sat down beside her, taking her hand in mine. "Thank you" she whispered. I just smiled at her and nodded my head.

As they closed the doors to the ambulance, I looked out to see Ben holding Angela whose body shook with deep sobs.

The ride to the hospital was quiet expect for the EMT's working on Bella. Occasionally they would ask her a question that she would answer with a head shake yes or no, but her eyes never left mine and I never took mine off of hers. It was as if we both needed to do this because if we didn't something awful would happen. Something worse than what had already happened.

When we got to the hospital they would not let me go back with Bella to triage and the look of fear on her face damn near brought me to my knees. I promised her I would be in the waiting room and that as soon as they let me I would be there by her side again. The nurse told her I would be able to come back once they had completed their exams and she seemed to relax a little bit.

I found a seat in the waiting room and everything that had happened this evening suddenly washed over me. I couldn't help but fear the worse. Fear that the attack was worse than what could be seen on the outside. Fear that she had been… I couldn't bring myself to think the word let alone say it. I got up and started to pace the floor, I just wanted to get back there to her, back there to make her feel safe. The more I paced the more I had to ask myself why? Why did this happen to her, her of all people. She was too sweet to have something like this happen, she was too good. Why did I feel the need to rush back there and check on her, why did I feel like my own life depended on it? Why was I so scared for her and yet so drawn to her at the same time?

My head started to hurt but I could only imagine it was a tiny pain compared to the pain she must be in. I hoped that they were giving her pain medication. What was going on back there? I had to know what was going on. The longer they were back there the more worried I got and the quicker I paced. I was about to jump out of my skin and go and demand some answers when two men in suits walked over to me.

"Are you Edward Cullen?" the taller of the two men asked. I shook my head yes.

"My name is Detective Sam Uley and this is my partner Detective Jacob Black. We are with the violent crimes task force and we have been assigned Ms. Swan's case. We need to ask you some questions."

Before I could let them start theirs I had a few questions of my own. "Have you seen her yet?" I asked "Do you know if she is ok? They will not tell me anything."

Realizing I need answers first Det Uley gave me some charity. "We just came from speaking with her and the doctor. She is ok. She has cuts on her face, neck and leg and the ones on her neck and leg took a few stitches to close." I winced at those words. "She has a concussion and lots of bruises. It appears he may have tried to choke her and between that and her screams, there is a bit of damage to her vocal cords making it hard to hear her. Doctor Turner says that with some rest her voice will go back to normal soon and that despite everything, she is going to be ok."

"Was she…." I still could not bring myself to say the word

"Raped?" Det Black asked. I lowered my head and nodded

"No, it appears she was able to get away before it went that far." My whole body sighed with those words. Thank you God.

"We haven't really spoken with her yet about all of the details of the attack but she did let the doctors and us know she wasn't raped. She wanted to know if you would come back there with her while she answers questions."

She wanted me back there? She needed me back there? "Of course" I almost shouted heading back there.

"We need to ask you a few questions first if that is ok?" Det Uley said

Ok? Ok? Of course it is not ok, she needs me back there and I need to go to her. But I knew they needed answers from me before they could question her further. I would have to wait a little longer before going back to her.

"Of course, what do you want to know?" I answered feeling defeated.

"Can you tell us what happened? How you found Ms. Swan and anything she may have said." Det Black asked, taking out a notebook.

I recounted the story for the detectives, telling them about hearing screams, about stepping outside and finding Bella, about how she collapsed and about what she said about being attacked. They asked a few others questions about whether or not I had heard anything else or seen anyone else. The whole time we were talking I just wanted to get back there to her, to make sure she was ok. To put my arms around her and let her know I was there. Det Black must have sensed my needs as he paused before asking another question, taking in my stance.

"Come on Mr. Cullen; let's go see how she is doing." He said pointing the way back to triage. Stopping for a moment he turned to me and put his hand on my shoulder "I need to warn you though, the bruising has gotten much worse as she has been here and it's pretty bad."

All I could do was nod my head yes as I braced myself for the worst.

When we got back to the exam room, Bella was sitting up, her legs over the side of the bed. They had given her a scrub top to put on and she had pulled her hair back into a bun so that it was out of her face. As I got closer I got a clearer view of the damage that had been done to her. I stopped in my tracks for a moment, frozen.

"Take a minute if you need to before you go in there." Det Uley said putting his hand on my shoulder. "She needs you right now, and this won't help her any." He said pointing to the look on my face and the way my body was frozen. I nodded my head yes and took a moment to take everything in.

The cut on her neck had been bandaged, but the rest of her neck was deep purple with bruises, the imprint of fingers of both sides. They had cut her jeans in order to stitch the wound and a large white bandage was covering it. Her arms were black and blue. The cut on her face and been butterfly stitched and the bruise around it covered her left cheek.

I just stood there, looking at this poor broken girl and could not move. So many hate filled thoughts were racing through my mind at the asshole who did this to her. I was so consumed by rage that I could not see straight.

"Edward?" her small, raspy, barely audible voice pulled me from my anger and when our eyes met, my protective side took over and I rushed over to her. She held out her hand for me to take and I quickly took it. She wrapped her fingers into mine; seemingly hold on for her life. "I'm here sweetie, just like I promised."

"Thank you" she whispered

"Ms Swan, I know this has been a very rough evening for you, but we need to ask you some questions and get a statement from you."

"Ok" she hesitantly said.

"I know that you don't have much of a voice left so if you find it difficult to speak, we can stop at any time ok?" Det Black said. Bella nodded her head yes. "Can you tell us what happened from the beginning?"

Bella recounted the horrible details of the attack back to the detectives who in turn recorded information and asked other questions. When she told them the awful things he said to her, the rage began to consume me again. Bella placed her other hand on top of mine almost as if she sensed my rage and tried to calm me down. I couldn't believe that after all of this, she was trying to calm me just like she had done with Angela. As she described the pain she had inflected upon the attacker I couldn't help but feel good that the son of a bitch had suffered some pain, wishing only that I could inflict much more upon him myself. I also felt this great sense of pride towards Bella for having the strength to stand up for herself to fight for herself. Bella had always seemed so shy and quiet, but underneath all of that it seemed there was this very strong girl.

The detectives too seemed very pleased to hear about the pain she had inflicted on the attacker and Det Black even held up his hand to high five her. She just smiled at them as they told her she had done well.

"Were you able to get a good look at his face or tell what he was wearing?" Det Uley asked.

With that question, the smile on her face dropped and she looked away from them "No" she whispered. "When he turned me over, I tried to get a good look at his face but then he punched me and everything went very fuzzy. I wanted to so badly but I just couldn't see him or really anything else for that matter." She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"Ms Swan, look at me" Det Uley said, putting his hand on her shoulder. She slowly brought her gaze back to meet his eyes. "You do not have anything to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong, this is not your fault in any way shape or form. If anything I would say you fighting him was about the bravest thing I have heard of in a very long time." His words were sincere.

"Thank you" she whispered, a half smile crossed her lips. He patted her shoulder and stepped back.

"Could you tell how tall he was or what his build was?"

"When he had me up against the tree, it seemed like he was only a few inches taller than me, maybe about 5'7" but he was very stocky, like a defensive lineman."

"A lineman? You know football?" Det Uley asked somewhat surprised

Bella chuckled "Yeah, my dad is a big sports fan and I am a bit of a daddy's girl so I spent a lot of time with him watching sports. Guess it rubbed off."

"Well Ms. Swan I would have to say you may be one of the coolest young ladies I know. Can kick some butt and talk sports at the same time." He said smiling her. Although he was trying to lighten the mood and make her feel better, I believed his words were sincere and would have to agree with him. Bella just laughed, blushing at the same time. It was good to see some color come back into her pale face. The same color I had admired on her face a few other times.

"Speaking of your father, would you like us to contact your parents for you?" the color suddenly left her face.

"No thank you, I will call them tomorrow." She quietly said. I wondered why she did not want to contact them tonight or if she even planned on telling them at all.

"I think we have all that we need for now. This is my card, if you remember anything or need anything at all, please do not hesitate to call me." Det Uley said while handing her and I business cards. "That goes for you as well, Mr. Cullen."

"Thank you" we both said together and they turned and left the room. The room grew very quiet. I did not know what to say, but I wanted to say something so badly, wanted to comfort her as best I could. I started to ask her how she was holding up but Bella broke the silence first.

"Thank you Edward" she said softly looking up at me.

"What?" her words shocked me "Bella you don't need to thank me for anything."

"Edward I want to thank you for everything. For being there to rescue me, for staying with me and for watching over me. I don't know if I could have handled all of this without you."

"Bella" was all I could manage to whisper out. Her gratitude was over whelming and left me speechless. As I collected myself and was about to say something else the doctor came back into the room.

"Ms. Swan, how are you feeling?" Dr Turner said.

"Tired, sore and in desperate need of a shower." She chuckled

"We will be releasing you shortly and you should be able to take a shower when you get back to school. Given the hour I am going to send you home with something to take for the pain that will help you sleep as well as some bandages and other things you will need for the wounds. Just be sure to re-dress the wounds on your leg and neck when you get out of the shower and change them over the next few days. Although you can walk around on that leg without assistance try to stay off it as much as you can for the next day or two and try to relax your voice as much as you can." He paused for a moment having just said a mouthful. "Do you have a roommate or someone that you can stay with? You really shouldn't be alone."

"My roommate is out of town tonight but I guess I could stay with…"

"She can stay with me." I cut her off. She looked up at me in total surprise.

"My father is a doctor and I'm pre-med, so I have a little bit of a background in medicine. I'll watch her to make sure there aren't any complications with the concussion and will be able to redress the wounds for her. Plus there is a shower in my dorm room, so she will be able to take a private shower. "

"Well that sounds great. I'll go finish up the paperwork so you can get out of here." He said as he was leaving the room.

"Edward, you don't have to do this. I can get Angela or one of the other girls on the hall to stay with me." She said still looking at me with shock and surprise on her face.

"Bella, I want to do this. I want to make sure you are ok."

"But it is against the rules; you could get into a lot of trouble." Could she really be worried about me?

"I have an in with the head RA, I think it will be ok." I chuckled at her

"But Edward…"

"Please Bella, I want to do this. I want to know you are alright." More like I need to know she is alright. I just am not ready to let her go yet. And then it hit me, maybe she would be uncomfortable being alone with me, with a guy. "Unless of course you would be more comfortable staying with a girl" I stammered the words out.

"No Edward, it's not that. I would be very comfortable with you; in fact you are the only safety net I have had all night long. It's just that I have taken up so much of your night already and I don't want to take any more away from you." I couldn't believe my ears, here again she was worrying more about me than herself of all times when she should be thinking only about herself. I have never met anyone as selfless as she is.

"Bella, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be. Besides what did you take me away from, writing up drunken teenagers all night long? This is more important, you are more important than that."

"But" she hesitated "won't your girlfriend get upset with you for having another girl sleep over at your place?" I couldn't help but laugh to myself when she said this.

"No, no girlfriend. We broke up about a month ago. I am all yours." She blushed again with those words; I couldn't help but think how beautiful that color was on her face.

There was a knock on the door and Det Uley poked his head back into the room. "It just dawned on me that you may not have a ride home."

I hadn't even thought about the fact that I rode in the ambulance over here with her and that we did not have a way home. "I can call someone at the dorm to come and pick us up." I said trying to figure out who to call since Emmett and Jasper where gone.

"Nonsense, Jake and I will be happy to take you guys back. Plus it will give us a chance to see what they were able to get from the crime scene."

"Was he still there?" Bella asked quietly

Det Uley paused for a minute before answering. "No, dear, there was no one there. " he looked down. "But I promise you we will do all that we can to find him. We will be in the waiting room when you guys are ready to go." And he walked back out of the room.

Bella looked broken all over again with his words, fear creeping back into her face. I put my arms around her and kissed her forehead. She leaned into me and put her arms around my waist, seemingly holding on again for dear life.

"I believe him Bella. I believe him when he says he will do all he can to find the son of bitch that did this to you." I hated to use that kind of language in front of her, but I could not bring myself to think or say anything other than that about her attacker.


	5. Chapter 5

**SM owns all things Twilight**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

We crawled into the backseat of the detective's car and I pulled Bella into my arms as she wrapped hers around my waist. I could not get over the fact that it felt so good to have her in arms and I wasn't sure if it was because I knew she was safe or if it was something else. My mind began to wander, thinking about what it would be like to hold her like this in passion and not protection. Wondered what it would be like to kiss her. _What the hell are you doing you sick bastard? _I shuddered at my thoughts and when I did Bella tightened her grip around me, as if to once again comfort me.

I happened to look at the clock on the console of the detective's car and saw that it was only 11:00 pm. It felt like it should about 2 in the morning.

When we got to the dorm there were people and lights everywhere. The police were still working the crime scene and there were on lookers as far as you could see. Bella tensed up when she saw the commotion. I could tell she did not want to deal with the people, with the stares and looks of pity.

"Detectives, is there any way you can escort us in, to help keep people away from Bella. I don't think she needs all of the attention right now." I asked.

"No problem" Det Black said.

They parked the car right in front of the dorm entrance and away from the area that the police were combing through. Det Black opened the door for us allowing me to get out first and put my arm around Bella as she got out with her head down clinging to my waist. The two detectives than gathered around us, one in front and one in back like a security detail. I could hear whispers all around us as we made our way back to my room. Before we reached the room I gave my keys to Det Uley and he unlocked the door allowing us to walk in without my having to take my arms off of her. When we were just about in, Mike came out of his room and started to call Bella's name but I looked at him and shook my head. He realized she didn't want to see anyone and let it drop. Once we were in the room with the door closed, Bella seemed to relax a bit.

"It's ok now Bella." Det Black said "You are in good hands; Edward will look out for you now."

"I know" she whispered in her strained voice looking up at me smiling. My heart just melted looking into those beautiful, trusting brown eyes.

The detectives left the room after hugging Bella good bye and I could hear them talking to Mike and the others outside. Bella just stood in the middle of the room, looking around.

"Can I get you something? Are you hungry? Do you want something to drink?"

"No" she smiled at me "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Isn't there anything you want?"

"Well" she hesitated "I would love to take a shower." That lovely blush came back to her face.

"Of course." I said walking over and opening the bathroom door for her. "There is shampoo and soap in there." I reached into my closet beside the bathroom to get her a towel and handed it to her. She paused for a moment. I could tell she wanted to say something but she looked too embarrassed.

"There is a lock on the door. I promise I won't bother you." She laughed at those words.

"I didn't think you would Edward. It's just…"

"What Bella?"

"I don't have any clothes" she looked down at the scrub top and dirty jeans "and there is no way in hell I am putting these back on."

"Of course not" I chuckled. "I saw Angela out there with Ben and the other guys. I'll go with her to your room and get you a few things ok."

"Thank you" she said.

I walked over to her and gave her a hug before leaving to find Angela.

"Are you going to be ok by yourself?" she nodded her head and walked towards the bathroom. I heard the door close and I left the room.

Mike, Angela, Ben and a few others were standing outside of the room waiting on news.

"How is she?" Mike asked

"She's ok; pretty beat up, but still smiling." I said with a sense of pride.

"Can we see her?" Eric asked

"Not right now, she just wants to take a shower and be alone for a bit. Angela, would you mind going with me to get her some clothes. She is going to stay with me tonight and she needs a few things."

"Of course Edward. Do you have her keys?"

"No but I have mine." I smiled at her holding up my keys knowing I had a master.

We did not speak the whole way to her room. Once inside, Angela began to gather her clothes, while I looked for her toothbrush, brush and anything else that she might need. She had all of her bathroom stuff in a bucket so I grabbed the bucket to put with the clothes Angela had gotten for her.

"Edward" Angela paused. She had the same look on her face that I was sure I had on mine when I first talked to the detectives. "Was she raped?" her words broke as she said the last one.

"No, she wasn't. She was able to fight him off before…" I couldn't finish my sentence.

"Is she really ok?"

"I'm not sure Angela. She seems strong right now, but I worry about what will happen to her when it all sinks in. It just isn't fair. She shouldn't have to go through this, no girl ever should, but Bella… she just…" I didn't know what to say next. "She just looked so…broken." I could feel tears brimming up in my eyes.

Angela walked over to me and took my hand. "She's strong Edward. She always has been. I know she seems quiet, but Bella has more strength then anyone I have ever met. And with you there to help her it just makes her that much stronger. I know she'll be ok." I wiped my eyes and smiled at her. Where did that come from? The need to tell someone what was racing through my mind all night long, the need to scream and cry. What was happening to me? Embarrassed by my actions, I cleared my throat.

"Let's get back down to her ok" I said.

BPOV

Edward left the room and I could hear his voice out in the hall talking to the others. I stood there holding the towel for a minute just taking in everything around me. Images of the night, the whole night started to run through my mind and it just became too much. I knew if I let myself relive all of it right now I wouldn't make it. I just shook the thoughts out of my head and decided a shower was the best thing for me. I took the bandage off of my neck and leg before taking off my clothes, thinking I would love to burn them all. I could see bruises on my arms and around the cut on my leg, but I wasn't ready to look at my neck or face. Judging from the looks on the detectives and Edward's faces it had to be bad.

I turned the water on to let it warm up and I took my hair down, and then stepped into the shower. The water was very warm and it felt so good running down my body. Washing all of the dirt and leaves out of my hair, washing the night off me, washing him off of me. After washing my hair and body I just stood there under the water, letting it cleanse me, letting my mind run free. Again the images of the night tried to take over again. The attack, my escape, Edward finding me, the hospital, Edward wanting me to stay here with him. I let my thoughts of Edward take over. Why was he helping me like this? Why was he being so protective of me? I was so grateful and felt so at ease with him, like he was meant to be there to save me and now he is meant to be here to keep me sane, but why? Why did he feel the need to help me and why did I feel the need to let him?

As I stood there in the shower going crazy, I heard a small knock on the bathroom door and a small, timid voice.

"Bella?"

"Angela?"

"Yeah it's me. I brought you some clothes and your bathroom items. I will put them over here on the sink."

"Angela, is Edward out there?"

"No he is across the hall for now. He wanted to give you some privacy while you took a shower. I can go get him if you would like."

I did want him here, but knew I should give him some time away. "No that's ok, but… would you mind staying here with me for a minute while I finish up? I really don't want to be alone."

"Of course Bella. I am more than happy to stay here with you. I'll be out here so you can get dressed ok."

"Thanks" I said while turning off the water. When I opened up the curtain, I found the tank top and shorts I sleep in that I had left on my bed and other items on the sink counter. I also saw my shower kit and suddenly realized how badly I wanted to brush my teeth. Something else I needed to do to get him off of me. I brushed my teeth, got dressed and paused for a moment trying to see if I could bring myself to look in the mirror. I knew I couldn't and I opened the door to go back into the room.

Angela was getting a bottle of water out of the fridge, her back turned to me. "Edward asked me to get you some water saying you needed to keep hydra…." She had turned to look at me when she stopped mid word. Her face went pale white with shock and pain. Tears started to brim up in her eyes.

"That bad uh?" I said trying to lighten the mood. She still stood there shocked. I walked over to her and hugged her.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have… Edward said the bruises were deep… I just… oh Bella, I'm so sorry this happened to you." She was visible shaken and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to look in the mirror anytime soon.

Angela tried to recover herself. "Bella, it isn't that bad, it just took me by surprise. You're still…."

"Beautiful" his voice was like silk and so sincere. Edward was standing in the open door way. "You are still beautiful." He looked at me smiling. My head was spinning for a moment and I felt dizzy. Surely he did not mean that; surely he was just trying to make me and Angela feel better, right? Could he possible find me beautiful? Even like this? Does that mean he thought I was beautiful before tonight?

"Edward, you don't have to try and make me feel better. I can only imagine how bad it looks based on how bad it hurts." He grimaced when I said this, like it hurt him for me to be in pain. I took the water from Angela and walked over to sit on the couch.

"Bella, I am not trying to make you feel better." He walked over to me and sat by me on the couch and took my hand into his. With his other hand he took my face softly by the chin and pulled my eyes up to look at his. "I am not going to lie to you, the bruising is pretty bad, especially on your neck, but the good news is it will go away. But you are still beautiful; on the inside and out. You were beautiful before this night, you are now and you will continue to be beautiful after the bruises are gone." I just sat there in shock, amazed at his words, amazed at how lovely the touch of his hand on mine was. How tender his touch on my face was. And then a noise in the hallway brought me out of my trance.

"But Edward…" he put his hand up stopping me from going further.

"Dr. Turner said you need to rest your vocal cords, so no arguing with me ok?" He grinned.

Holy shit what a grin! I shook my head yes and opened the bottle of water to drink. Suddenly aware that Angela was still in the room, I was oddly thankful that someone else had witnessed this exchange so I knew I wasn't dreaming or going crazy. She too was smiling.

"Are you hungry?" Edward asked me, drawing me again out of my daze.

"Not really" I said

"Bella, when was the last time you ate?" he asked concerned.

"Lunch… I guess."

"Bella you need to eat something. If you take the medicine Dr. Turner gave you on an empty stomach you will be sick as a dog. I am going to make you a grilled cheese sandwich. They always make me feel better." He got up to go over to the kitchen.

"Edward, you do not have to cook anything for me." I started to protest trying to raise my voice but with no luck at all.

He turned to me and ginned that same amazing grin again. "Bella, remember Dr.'s orders, save your voice." And he turned back to the kitchen area and began to fix my sandwich.

"I am going to go and let you get some rest ok" Angela said as she walked over to me to give me a hug. "I'll come and check on you in the morning. If you need anything in the mean time, please let me know."

"Thank you Angela." I smiled at her, hugging her back. She left the room and it was just Edward and I again and that made me really happy.

Edward had fixed a few sandwiches for himself as well which I was glad for. I would have hated for him to have gone to the trouble of making one just for me.

"Thank you for making me eat Edward." I said after I had polished off my sandwich and half of the second one he had fixed for himself. "I guess I didn't realize just how hungry I was. That may have been the best grilled cheese I have ever eaten."

"Oh you are just saying that" he laughed, giving me that amazing grin again. Holy shit that grin was going to do me in! He took our plates and put them in the kitchen sink. When he turned to look back at me, his grin was gone and he was deep in thought.

"Bella, can I ask you a question?"

"I think so…" I hesitated. That look on his face had me worried.

"If you don't want to answer it, please just let me know. I will understand completely." he said, that deeply concerned look still on his face.

"Ok…" I said again very hesitantly.

"Earlier when the detectives asked you if you wanted them to call your parents for you and you said you would do it in the morning, were you really planning on calling them in the morning?"

Shit why did he have to ask that question. I was hoping he wouldn't notice that. I thought for a moment about lying to him and saying yes, but I couldn't, I didn't want to lie to him.

"No" I said quietly.

"You don't want them to know?" I shook my head no.

"What about Alice and Emmett? They will be back in the morning and there is no way you will be able to hide this from them. Don't you think they will say something to your parents?"

"I haven't even thought about telling Alice and Em before now. I'm not sure I want to. I know I cannot hide it from them, but I don't think I will be able to say the words to them, especially Em. I know his temper and I know how protective he is of me and I wouldn't want him to do anything stupid." I sat there for a moment trying to visualize what that conversation was going to be like and I couldn't see myself saying the words.

"If you would like, I can talk to them for you. I need to let Em know that you are staying here tonight so when he comes bounding in here in the morning, he doesn't kill me." He said with a laugh trying to ease the tension.

"Thank you Edward, I would appreciate that. I know I will still have to talk with them after, but I would feel better not being the one to tell them." And then I thought about how unfair it was to ask Edward to do the thing I didn't want to do. "I guess though that is somewhat cowardly and not really fair to you is it?"

He walked back over to me and sat down beside me on the couch. "Bella, it's not cowardly at all. I am happy to do this for you; I wouldn't have suggested it if I thought it was unfair. When you are ready to talk about this will be when you are ready, whether it is with me, Alice, Em or anyone else for that matter ok."

I looked at him and nodded my head yes, thankful again that he was so understanding.

"But you still don't want to tell your parents at all do you?" Damn I was hoping he would drop that.

"No" I said. I wanted to leave it at that, but I knew I owed Edward more than that. I wanted to talk to him about all of this, but just on my own time, and this answer was easier to give than others I knew were coming down the road. "My dad is the Chief of Police back home in our small town. Like I said earlier, I am a daddy's girl and he had a really hard time dealing with letting me go, letting me grow up and come here. I know that if he finds out he will be here within hours packing me up to take me back home. I know my mother would not keep this from him but she would argue to let me stay here and that it would cause problems between the two of them and I don't want that. I know at some point I am going to have to tell them depending on what happens next, but for now, I would just rather they not know." It felt good to get that off my chest. To say out loud one of the things I had been going over in my head for hours.

"Well I can certainly understand that." Edward said with a smile.

I could feel a yawn coming on and I looked away trying to hide it.

"You need to get some sleep. But before you do we need to…" Edward paused looking suddenly uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Well we need to re-bandage your neck and leg." He said still pausing

"Oh" I said trying to figure out why he looked uncomfortable. Maybe he didn't feel comfortable touching me like that, being that close to me. Panic began to set in and I couldn't figure out why. I wasn't nervous about him touching me, I was more nervous about him not wanting to touch me.

"Are you ok with me doing this? I mean are you ok with me touching you?" Wait he was concerned about making me uncomfortable?

"I'm ok with it Edward. For some strange reason your touch hasn't bothered me at all tonight. To be honest when the detectives touched me, even when Angela hugged me, I could feel myself hesitating even though I tried to hide it, but with you, it just feels safe."

He looked at me and smiled and went to get the stuff from the bag that they sent back with us from the hospital. He bandaged my wounds and gave me the medicine Dr. Turner had given me to take before clearing off his bed for me to get into.

"My bed is more comfortable. I'll sleep in Emmett's tonight." He said

"Edward, I can sleep in Em's. You don't have to give your bed up." I started to protest

"Now Ms. Swan, how many times do we have to go over Dr's orders tonight? Remember rest your voice, no arguing." And there was that grin again. Damn it, he was killing me with that grin. I shook my head and went and got into his bed. He tucked me in and then went to turn off the lights, pausing for a moment.

"Bella, would you like me to leave a light on for you?"

I thought about it for a moment and nodded my head yes. He walked over to the light over the stove in the kitchen and turned it on before turning all of the other lights off and then he went and got into Em's bed.

"Night Bella."

"Night Edward."

I laid in bed for a while trying to fight sleep, for every time I closed my eyes all of those unwanted images came rushing back but after about 30 minutes of fighting it, the pain killers won out and I was deep asleep.

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**A/N Reviews are always welcomed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**SM owns all things Twilight**

Thank you to all of those who have added this story to their alerts and favorites.

This is my first attempt at FF and it means a great deal to me!

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**Chapter Six**

I lay there as quietly as I could hoping not to disturb her and listening to signs that she had gone to sleep. I needed to talk to Em before they came back in the morning but I didn't want her to hear and I didn't want to leave her in here by herself out of fear she would wake up confused about where she was. After awhile she was very still and her breathing was steady. She was asleep and it seemed to be a peaceful sleep which I was grateful for. She deserved peace without dreams or thoughts of the night.

I grabbed my phone and noticed that it was 1:00 am. I would guess that Emmett was still up but I wasn't sure so I sent him a text.

_R U Awake?_

A few moments later: _Yeah. Why?_

I dialed his number and he picked it up on the first ring.

_Edward, why are you calling me at one in the morning?_

"What time are you guys coming back in the morning?" I whispered not wanting to wake Bella up.

_Edward, I can barely hear you. Did you just ask when are we coming back in the morning?_

"I did" I said trying to speak a little louder

_Well the game starts at noon, so we should be back about 10:00 to get ready to tailgate. Why?_

"Emmett, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to go to Jasper's room before coming to ours. When you get there, please call me."

_Oh shit Cullen, did you hook up tonight? Wait…please tell me it isn't that bitch Tanya?_

"No Emmett" I growled at him, trying to remain calm. I paused for a moment to listen to Bella's breathing hoping I had not disturbed her. She was still asleep. "Damn it, be serious please. I need you to promise me that you will do what I asked. And Emmett, please make sure Alice goes to Jasper's room with you guys before you let her go to her room."

_Edward what's wrong? You're starting to worry me. Is everything ok?_

"Everything is fine now. I will explain it all in the morning, but Emmett, please promise me that you will do what I asked, please."

_I promise Edward. Alice and I will go to Jasper's room and call you first._

"Thanks Emmett" I sighed "I'll talk to you in the morning" I was about to hang up when Emmett spoke up.

_Wait… Edward…. is Bella OK?_ Damn! Emmett was more perceptive than I had hoped for.

"She is now." I quietly said

_Edward what the fuck! What happened to Bella? _He started to yell now. Bella was right to worry about his reaction.

"Emmett, calm down! I promise I will tell you everything in the morning. Just know that she's OK and that you shouldn't worry about her."

Emmett did not say anything for what seemed like forever. I could hear him trying to calm his breathing.

_OK Edward_ he finally said. _I will talk to you in the morning_. And the line went dead.

I hated not telling him, but I knew over the phone was not the right way to do this. Knowing Emmett he would have left Forks right then and there and driven like an enraged crazy person to get here.

I laid there trying to figure out how I was going to tell them, thinking of the best way to protect Bella. Thinking about her led me back to things that had happened earlier in the night. I had been standing outside of the door listening for my chance to walk back into the room, when I heard Angela's gasp at seeing Bella for the first time since returning back to the dorm. I quietly opened the door and saw Bella hugging Angela, trying to make her feel better, totally selfless once again. It pained me to see Angela struggle with trying to make things ok, normal again. Angela had been so good to Bella and to me for that matter and I could see she was in a great deal of pain to see Bella go through this. It seemed to me that she was going to say that Bella still looked pretty or attractive or the same or beautiful and the word just escaped my lips without even thinking.

It was true though, Bella was a very beautiful girl and the fact that she clearly did not know just how beautiful she really was, made her even more so. Despite the bruises, I could still see that beauty and I couldn't help myself. I froze for a moment, thoughts' screaming at me about how inappropriate what I had just said was, but I couldn't help myself and I could not, would not regret telling her. She needed to know that she was beautiful, not just now, but always. So I continued that thought, walking over to her, taking her hand in mine, pulling her face to mine and then telling her what I thought. Her skin was so warm, so soft. I thought back to the first time we met and I had shaken her hand. I was reminded of how that brief contact made me feel and how I held onto her hand a bit longer than I should have. And then how I had tried to hide that feeling by playing the role of head RA.

I thought about cooking for her and how much I loved it. And watching her eat was an unexpected treat. She was very hungry and I had to laugh to myself when she looked wantingly at the second sandwich I had fixed. I about came unglued thinking about how I would love to have her look at me like that.

The best part and the worst part was when I re-bandaged her wounds for her. Looking at them, seeing the pain they caused, the stitches, the bruises, and feeling the way she flinched when I touched them broke my heart. I was suddenly filled with pain and rage and I thought I would lose it. She touched my head, smoothing back my hair to calm me and when I looked up at her eyes I was lost. I could not explain it, but when she looked at me then, I just felt this sudden calm. Of course that calm was quickly replaced with excitement at the feeling of her skin. I thought my hands were going to catch on fire from the sparks I felt in them while I was touching her calf. To be this close to her, to be this intimate with her, it was amazing. Amazing and overwhelming all at once. Suddenly my thoughts were screaming at me again, berating me for feeling this about her. What the hell was happening to me?

I was about to drift off, when a small whimper bolted me up in the bed. I looked over and Bella was suddenly restless. She seemed to be struggling in her sleep, like she was fighting someone.

"Please God no, please no, please no" she whimpered again as she began to fight more in her sleep.

I walked over to her bed and sat down; trying to figure out if I should wake her.

"No!" she screamed and she bolted up from her dream sitting straight up in the bed. She sat there for a moment trying to get her bearings.

"Bella, sweetie?" I softly said. She looked over at the sound of my voice and her eyes seemed to clear.

"Bella, you're ok. It was just a dream, I am right here for you." Her eyes filled with tears and she fell back on to the pillow, sobs rushing out of her suddenly. It was the first time I had seen her cry the whole night and I knew it was all crashing down on her. I climbed into the bed beside her and pulled her into my arms. She put her arms around my waist and just cried. All of the emotions of the night just spilled out of her, onto my shirt, into my soul. I didn't say anything to her; I just let her cry, rubbing her back, running my fingers through her hair and kissing the top of her head. My heart was breaking for her and I wanted to cry along with her, but I knew I couldn't, I knew I needed to be strong for her. After a while her sobs lessened and she grew quiet. I thought she had cried herself to sleep and I tried to adjust myself, to make her more comfortable, when she looked up at me.

"Thank you Edward." She whispered. She barely had any voice left at all. I kissed the top of her head again and smiled.

"Can I ask a favor of you please?" she quietly asked

"You can ask me anything sweetie." I said

"Could you…would you mind terribly…" she stopped

"Bella, please, its ok, ask me." I tried to encourage her to go on.

"Would you mind just laying here and holding me for a while longer?" My heart tried to leap out of my chest. More than anything I wanted to hold her. I had wanted to all night long.

"Of course I wouldn't mind Bella." I said. I stood up for a moment and she pulled the covers back for me to crawl under them with her, we both laid down and I pulled her into me, her head resting on my shoulder, one arm resting on my chest, the other nestled into my side. I began running my fingers through her hair again and humming the same lullaby my mother used to hum to me when I was sick or hurt. It felt so good to hold her and we drifted off to sleep.

There was a strange buzzing noise near my head, but I tried to ignore it. I was warm, happy, and peaceful. I wrapped my arms around her tighter and the warmth I was feeling grew. And then the buzzing noise came back again. My eyes shot open and I looked over at my table, saw my phone moving across the wood. I knew I needed to get to the phone, but I didn't want to leave the warmth. The phone buzzed again and this woke Bella. We were in the exact same position we had been in when we feel asleep, and she looked up at me and smiled.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I really need to get that. It may be Emmett. I called him last night and asked him to call me from Jasper's room before coming in." She nodded and began to pull away. I hugged her tighter and kissed her head before letting her pull away completely.

I sat up and grabbed my phone from the table.

"Hello"

_Edward, what the hell, I have been calling you for five minutes now. I was about to bust in there on you._

I started to say something when I noticed the clock on the table. It was eight o'clock in the morning.

"Emmett what the hell are you doing here so earlier. I thought you guys were not coming back until ten."

_Did you really think you could leave me with the idea that something was wrong with Bella and not come rushing back here? I waited as long as I could and then I told the others we had to come back ASAP. _

Damn it, this was going to be harder than I thought. "Emmett, give me about five minutes and I will be over there to explain everything."

_Fuck no Edward, get over here now._ I could hear him out in the hallway screaming into the phone. Bella looked towards the door with panic in her eyes.

"Emmett, please calm down. I'm coming, I promise, but I need a few minutes ok?"

_If you are not here in five minutes I am breaking that damn door down, do you hear me!_ And the call was dropped.

I turned to look at Bella and shook my head.

"So Emmett's here." I said with a small chuckle "I'm going to go and talk to him and Alice. Will you be ok by yourself for a bit?"

"I think so" she could barely speak."Edward are you sure you want to do this?"

"Of course I do darling." I said as I leaned in and kissed her forehead. I got up and went over to the fridge and pulled a bottle of water out for her. "You need to drink this. Staying hydrated will help your voice."

She smiled the most amazing smile that caused her beautiful eyes to light up. She nodded at me and took the bottle of water.

"I'll be back shortly." I rubbed her shoulder and headed towards the door, pausing a moment to gain my strength. This was going to be harder to do than I thought it would be.

The door to Jasper's room was open. Alice was sitting on Jasper's bed and he was beside her with his arm around her. She was pale and had this look of fear that almost made me cry. Rosalie was sitting in a chair watching Emmett who was pacing back and forth across the floor. Ben was not in the room and his bed looked as if it had not been slept in. I wondered if he had stayed with Angela last night to comfort her.

Emmett shot across the room as I closed the door and he was in my face. I had never seen him so angry before.

"Edward, you had better start talking now." He screamed. All of the other eyes in the room were looking at me.

"Emmett, please calm down. This is going to be hard enough as it is and I cannot do this if you are going off half-cocked." He started to say something else, but I shot up straight, looking him square in the eye, holding my ground and he backed down. He walked over to the chair that Rose was sitting in and stood behind her taking her hand in his.

I tried to figure out the best way to start this. Should I just come out and say the words I didn't want to say or should I start from the beginning. In the end, I knew it would be best to just get it over with, calm Emmett down and then tell them the story.

"Bella was attacked last night." God that hurt to say. Alice's head dropped and I could see tears falling into her lap. Jasper tightened his grip around her and had a pained expression on his face.

"She was raped." Emmett raged, bolting towards me again. "Was it that snake Newton? I swear I will kill him!" he was headed right for the door. I jumped in front of him before he could do something stupid. Bella really did know him too well.

"Emmett she wasn't raped" now that felt good to say "And Mike had nothing to do with it." He stopped fighting me, looked up at me and for the first time in the three years I had known Emmett he looked so lost. Actual tears where streaming down his face.

"We don't know who attacked her. She was walking down the path behind the church when she was attacked, but she was able to get away from him before he could…" once again I could not say the word. It was easier to say that she wasn't instead of thinking that she could have been. "She stayed with me last night and I didn't want you to walk in and find her there. The doctor was concerned about her staying by herself. He wanted to make sure there were no side effects to the concussion and that her wounds could be re-bandaged after she had come back and taken a shower."

"Concussion, wounds? Edward how bad is it?" Rose asked. Emmett had turned away from all of us and was looking at the wall. His shoulders were slumped and he looked like he would crumble. Alice had not moved at all and Jasper too looked defeated.

"It's bad Rose. She was beaten up pretty bad. She has a concussion and she has cuts on her face, neck and leg. She is covered in bruises, the worst being on her neck. He tried to choke her and you can see his finger marks on her neck."

Emmett did crumble at that point and slumped onto Ben's bed. Rose went over to him to try and comfort him. I went over to the chair Rose had been sitting in and took the seat, telling them the whole story.

After I had finished the story, nobody spoke; the only sounds could be heard from Alice's sobs. Emmett broke the silence finally.

"Edward" he still wouldn't look in my direction

"Yes Emmett"

"You have been with her all night, since you found her?"

"Yes" I said quietly.

"Why" he asked, finally looking at me with red eyes. "You don't know her that well, not like Alice and I."

I thought about it for a moment not sure what I should tell him. "I had to Emmett. Seeing her like that, the way she collapsed into me, the way she needed me, I could not leave her. Every part of me, everything in my mind, heart and soul told me that I needed to be there for her." I could feel the tears growing in my eyes again.

"Edward" Alice's voice cracked. She stood up and walked over to me taking my hand. "Thank you for taking care of our Bella."

I couldn't hold back the tears any more. Just as everything had crashed down on Bella after her dream, it now crashed down on me and I put my head down and sobbed. Alice put her arm around my shoulder and then Emmett came over and pulled me up into a hug. Alice's words were true, she was our Bella. She was as much a part of my life now as she was theirs and nothing would change that.

After a few minutes, Emmett's manly side jumped back to the surface and he coughed and than double patted my back in a typical guy hug fashion. We just laughed at each other as we dried our eyes.

"Edward, did you call her parents?" Alice asked

"No, she didn't want to."

"But Edward they need to know." Emmett joined in.

"I think so too Emmett. But she is afraid her dad will pull her out of here if she calls them and she doesn't want that to happen."

"Yeah, knowing Charlie he would be here in about two hours and they would be packed and on the road before any of us had a chance to say goodbye." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Guess I would be the same way though."

"Edward, is she up to seeing us?" Alice asked.

"She is. But I have to warn you, she really doesn't have much of a voice and…" I paused "as bad as I have told you everything is, it will still be a shock to you when you see her. "

BPOV

Edward walked out of the room and my heart sank. It felt so good to wake up in his arms. Like none of last night had happened. But now that he was out of the room, it all came back to me. And now my friends, my family really, knew about it and that would make it even more real.

"_She was raped. Was it that snake Newton? I swear I will kill him_" I could hear Emmett's voice scream even though they were three rooms away. He was taking this worse than I thought he would. Poor Edward. I waited to hear the sounds of Emmett rushing to Mike's room but there was nothing. Edward must have calmed him down. If Mike was awake, I'm sure he heard that as well and was probably scared out of his mind.

I sat there and waited for what seemed like forever. I got up and went to the bathroom. My whole body hurt and my leg was very sore. I brushed my hair and teeth but still could not bring myself to look into the mirror. Seeing how much deeper the bruises on my arms and legs were, I can only image how bad my neck and face must look. I paced around the room waiting for Edward to come back in or for anyone to come back in. I hated being alone and the quiet was just too much. I went and sat on the couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. I flipped around for something to watch, but there was nothing on. I suddenly longed for my childhood days when Saturday morning cartoons were on. It is amazing how quickly things can change, how quickly all of that innocence can be lost. I turned the TV off and sat there again in silence. I could feel the tears trying to escape my eyes again when there was a knock on the door.

"Bella?" oh thank you God, it was Edward's voice. "Alice and Emmett would like to come in and see you if that's ok?"

"Yes" I said, but hardly any sound came out. I knew they would never hear me so I went over and opened the door. Edward's beautiful smile greeted me as I opened the door, but behind him I heard Alice gasp and Emmett growl. Shit, it was much worse. I lowered my head and then Alice rushed in the room almost knocking Edward over and pulled me into a tight hug. I caught my breath and hugged her back. I could feel her tears on my skin. It was at this time that I noticed that both Emmett and Edward had red, bloodshot eyes. My heart broke to think of my big Em and my safety net Edward crying over me. That must have been some talk.

"It's ok Alice" my voice squeaked and I knew they could barely hear me. I saw a look of rage cross Em's face, the same rage I had seen on Edward's face last night at the hospital. Alice let go of her hold on me and stood back for a moment. I could see her eyes move up and down my body, taking everything in. She stopped at my throat and just stared, tears falling down her face.

"Hey little one" Emmett said as he walked over to me, sweeping me up in a hug. I could tell from his hug that he didn't want to let me go, like he was afraid to let me go. "I love you sweetie" he whispered in my ear. My poor Em. He had never told me that before. I knew he loved me like I was his sister, but he had never said it before and I could really tell that he needed to do it now.

"I love you too Em" I whispered.

"Bella, are you in any pain?" Edward asked. Emmett put me down suddenly, I guess fearing that he was hurting me.

"A little" I said "But I don't want to take another one of the pills from last night."

"Well I'll tell you what, Emmett and I will go and get some breakfast and I'll get you something to take over the counter. After we eat, I'll take a look at your cuts and we will see if we need to re-bandage them."

"Alice?" Edward turned his attention to her. "Can you stay here with Bella while we are gone?"

"Of course I will Edward" she said

Edward walked over to me and softly brushed his hand up my arm, sending waves of warmth through my whole body. "Can I get you anything in particular while I am out?" I just shook my head no. With that he kissed my forehead and turned and left with Emmett closing the door behind him. Even though Alice was in the room with me, it suddenly felt so lonely without Edward being there.

Alice pulled me over to the couch and put her arms around me. We didn't say anything, we didn't do anything. We just sat there in silence, holding each other. We didn't have a need for words, we never did. We had been friends for so long, we both knew that this was what we needed. And we stayed that way until Edward and Emmett returned with breakfast.


	7. Chapter 7

**SM owns all things Twilight**

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Chapter Seven

"Edward?"

Emmett suddenly called my name breaking the silence that had engulfed us since we left Bella and Alice in our room. I could tell this was a lot for Emmett to handle and that he had tons of questions, but he couldn't bring himself to ask them. I just let him be, knowing that Emmett would let me know when he was ready to talk.

"Yes?" I readied myself for his questions

"How are you holding up with all of this?" I was not expecting that. I just looked at him confused. "It dawned on me that you have been really involved in this almost from the beginning. Seeing the way you broke down back there and knowing how I feel just hearing about it, I can only imagine this has to be very hard on you."

"I'm...fine." I stammered, still in shock over his question. We were standing in the drug isle of the grocery store and I turned to look at the display of Tylenol in front of me trying to give it my full attention, but not being able to. Emmett grabbed my arm and swung me back around to face him.

"Seriously Edward, how are you doing? I know you. I know how you take everything on and hold it in. This has to be so overwhelming. I saw how you were with Bella back there. I saw the protective way you talked to her and kissed her forehead. She has drawn you in; just as she did with Alice and me. I cannot imagine what you must be thinking let alone feeling."

So many thoughts ran through my mind, but I knew I couldn't share them all with Emmett, not now, not while I was trying to figure them out myself.

"I cannot get the image of her out of my head. The way I found her, just how broken and fragile she looked. It was heart breaking." My whole body shook with the image. "But then almost everything she has done since then has been about other people. The way she tried to calm me in the hospital. The way she calmed Angela when she saw her before the ambulance came and then after when she was back at the dorm. Everything about her wants to help other people and not herself. She has the kindest heart and soul of anyone I have ever met." I paused for a moment trying to keep it together. "You're right Emmett, she has drawn me in. I want to; no I need to take care of her." I turned back to the Tylenol display. Emmett cleared his throat and a typical Emmett grin crossed his lips and he punched me in the arm.

"I told you man, there's just something about Bella!"

The night of Bella's surprise party I mentioned something to Emmett about the way everyone in the room seemed to be drawn to her, like there was some kind of a magnet inside of her and that it was so surprising because she seemed to be so shy, so quiet and yet so loving and giving at the same time. All he said in return was "There's just something about Bella. She draws you into her and then you are hers forever, but in a good way, a way that you want to be." And he said it with so much love in his eyes I felt this urge to get to know her better but I wasn't sure how.

"Edward, Emmett" a familiar voice pulled me from my memories. It was Paul, one of our Sig Ep brothers.

"Hey Paul, how's it hanging" There was the Emmett I was so use to.

"Edward man what the hell happened at the dorm last night? Everyone is talking about some crazy shit." Emmett and I both stiffened up and I could tell Emmett was about ready to pounce.

"What have you heard?" he asked

"Well there are all kind of rumors about some girl being beaten up pretty bad. Some domestic shit I think." Emmett seemed to calm himself a bit.

"No nothing like that" I said "What are you doing up so early?" I asked trying to change the subject. I knew Paul usually wasn't up until at least noon on a Saturday.

"I'm getting stuff for the big game, going to meet the other guys for the tail gate blow out. You guys are going to be there right?"

Emmett and I just looked at him and smiled, which seemed to satisfy him and he took off.

I hadn't thought about our plans to tail gate since yesterday.

"Edward what are we going to do with all of the food we ordered for today? I should go grab Paul and tell him to pick it up and take it with him to the game." He started to take off for Paul when I grabbed his arm.

"Emmett what are you talking about, you're going to take it with you to the game."

"I'm not going to the game" he said looking at me somewhat shocked.

"Emmett of course you are. This game is all you have talked about all week long."

"Are you and Bella going?" His question surprised me

"Well, I doubt Bella wants to go, especially if there are all of these rumors floating around and I'll stay with her. We can watch the game on TV."

"Well than I'm not going either and I doubt seriously that Alice will want to go."

"Emmett" I started to protest but he cut me off.

"Edward, I'm not leaving Bella or you for that matter." And with that he turned to leave.

"Emmett" I started to protest again when he turned around and shot me a look that told me to shut up. "I have a great idea" I said instead. "Why don't we pick up the food we ordered and take it back to the room? We will just have our own tail gate party and watch the game in our room. I think it may do Bella some good to have some normalcy in her life right now."

"I was thinking the same thing myself buddy!"

We finished our shopping and picked up the wings and sub we had ordered for today. We also stopped by a local bakery and got some breakfast pastries and other sweet things. Once we were finished with everything we headed back to the dorm. Emmett called Rose to tell her our plans and to let her know that he would pick her up later. We stopped by Jasper's room and Ben and Angela were there too. The three of them were deep in conversation when Emmett bounced in, bags in hand.

"Hey guys! Listen we are not going to the game today, instead we are going to stay here and have our own room gate party and watch the game on TV." Emmett looked quite proud of himself for the room gate comment. "You guys are welcome to join us if you like."

Ben looked at Angela and she shook her head yes. I could tell she was still worried about Bella. Jasper looked like he was ready to get back to Alice and see how she was holding up and he said yes as well.

"Give us a little bit to set up and make sure Bella is good and then come on over." He smiled and turned to walk back to our room.

"We're back and ready to party!" Emmett announced as he opened the door to our room and trudged in with his bags. Bella and Alice were sitting on the couch together, just holding each other. It appeared that they were sitting there in silence. Emmett's boom broke that silence that was for sure.

"Em what the hell are you going on about?" Alice asked getting up and helping him with the bags.

"Big game today little sis! We are going to room gate and then watch the game here on TV. Rose, Jasper, Ben and Angela are coming over in a bit."

Bella's eyes got really big and she put her hands over her throat trying to cover her bruises. I walked over to her and sat down beside her.

"Bella if you are not ready for people yet, we can call this off and they can move room gate to Jasper's room. But I think it might be good for you to be around people who care about you. Support is a great thing to have. No pity, no more sorrow, just fun! You can cover up the bruises with clothes and I'm sure Alice can help you cover the one on your face with...something?" I looked over to Alice for a little help with that one.

"Already got it covered, so to speak." She giggled

"Besides I know how much you love football!" I gave her a quick grin. She just looked at me for a moment, her lovely eyes looking deep into mine and she blushed. Oh that beautiful color coming back into her cheeks!

"Thanks guys but while I think your right, it would do me some good, you all have been looking forward to this game and to the party beforehand and I don't want you to miss out on any of that because of me. What about your brothers? What about…" I put my finger on her lip to quiet her.

"Dr's orders young lady!" and her smile grew even bigger than before.

Emmett and I got everything ready for the game while Bella and Alice ate breakfast. Bella had taken some Tylenol and she seemed to be doing pretty good. I think the energy in the room helped her out a great deal. After eating, Alice went to go see Jasper and change clothes, telling Bella, she would bring her back the proper clothes and other "cover up" items. Emmett ran back to the store to get a few items he thought about while setting up and to pick up Rose. We were alone again.

"Bella, can I check your bandages?" She sat there looking hesitantly at the door, not saying anything.

"We can do it in the bathroom with the door closed. That way anyone coming back in won't see a thing." She sighed and walked over to the bathroom. I followed her and started to close the door but then paused. "Bella are you ok with me closing the door?"

She smiled for a moment and then looked up at me with such warmth. "Oh Edward, my knight and shining armor, always thinking of me. Yes, I'm ok being in here with you." Did she really mean that or was she being sarcastic? Did she really see me that way?

I closed the door as she sat on the toilet with the lid closed. I started with the bandage on her leg first. Slowly pulling the tape and gauze off I noticed she was looking straight ahead the whole time. The wound was black and blue around the cut site but the stitches looked to be holding up well. I cleaned the cut and couldn't help but think about how good it felt to touch her leg, to feel her silky skin under my finger tips again. I was about to put a new bandage on when she stopped me.

"Edward" she said putting her hand on mine "I want to…I need to look at the cut, see the damage."

I laid the bandage down and took hold of her hand as a show of support. She closed her eyes tight for a moment and then slowly opened them, looking down at the wound. She stared at it for a moment and then with her free hand, she ran her fingers over the bruise and then over the stitches. She sighed and then looked up at me.

"Well that wasn't so bad." she said smiling but not sounding completely sure. I took the new bandage and put it over the wound.

"I think I may be ready to see the rest now."

"Are you sure?" I asked. She shook her head yes watching my face, my reaction the whole time. I gingerly removed the bandage on her neck. It was so hard to see his finger prints on her throat, to know the pressure he must have applied to leave that kind of distinctive bruising. The rage I felt so many times before boiled up inside of me again and I had to look away. I did not want her to see my rage and feel my weakness.

"Edward?" Bella said with so much concern and fear in her voice. I could feel her resolve draining away and I knew I had to tell her what had caused me to look away. I didn't want to take away the strength that she had found to do this. I took a second and then looked back at her. The same fear and concern I heard in her voice was in her eyes as she searched my face. I almost lost it.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I turned away not because of how it looked." I paused trying to calm myself. "It's just that you can see his fingers on your neck." Her hands went to her neck and covered the marks. I softly pulled them away and lightly kissed her hands. "When I thought about how hard he must have squeezed your neck in order to leave those marks, it just became too much. I have been fighting all of this rage; rage that I think would put Emmett's to shame. I have watched you comfort everyone around you since this happened and I didn't want you to see that rage. I didn't want you to try and comfort me. Please don't get me wrong, I am so touched that you do that, but I am supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around. I want to be as strong as you but at that moment, I wasn't and it bothered me, really bothered me."

She didn't say anything, she just looked at me. What was she thinking? What was going through her head? Her silence was killing me. Fuck, I just let her down. I have to fix this, I have to make things ok again.

"Bella I…" She put her finger over my lip and leaned down and kissed my check. Such a soft, sweet and loving kiss. My cheek was on fire where her lips were.

"Edward, you have overwhelmed me with all that you have done for me in less than a twenty-four time span. Any strength that you think you see in me is because of you." Her voice was so quiet, but still so beautiful. "If I spend the rest of my life comforting you it will still not make up for what you have done for me."

I had no words, no words to say. She had not only comforted me, but she gave me all the credit. She is the most amazing person I have ever met in my life.

She gently caressed my face with her hand and then stood up.

"So let's do this than." She closed her eyes again for a moment and slowly opened them, looking at herself in the mirror for the first time. She drew her fingers up to her neck and began to trace the lines of his fingers, she than ran them lightly over the cut. Her fingers were trembling.

Her focus next went to her cheek, to the cut and then to the bruise. She traced those as well and tears fell down her face quickly, draining all color with them as they fell. She turned her back to the mirror and I could tell all of her strength was leaving her.

"Bella, tell me what you saw just now."

"Someone broken." her voice was barely audible.

I pulled her into my arms, trying to comfort her.

"You see someone broken, but I see the bravest person in the world." I backed up a little to look at her. She kept her head down trying to hide her face so I placed my finger under her chin and pulled her face up to look at mine. "Each cut that you have, each bruise that you have you got because you fought back against the son of a bitch who did this to you. You see black and blue, but I see courage. Courage to fight, to stand up for yourself. You see pain, but I see a preview, a preview to how he must look right now, because let's face it darling, you kicked his ass!" She just looked at me for a moment and then a small grin began to emerge on her lips. She then let out the most amazing laugh. A laugh that you could see in her eyes and feel in the way her body moved next to mine.

"That's more like it" I smiled, laughing with her. We stood there for a moment in our embrace laughing. I wanted to stay like that forever, but I knew I needed to get back to caring for the wounds.

I looked at the cut on her neck after cleaning it and put another smaller bandage on it. I then took the butterfly bandage off of the cut on her face and cleaned it as well. It looked to be healing very well and I did not think we needed to put another bandage on it.

"I think if it's ok with you, that we will not have to re-bandage the cut on your face." She smiled at me and seemed happy about that.

I'm not sure if it was her smile or something else that overcame me, but I leaned down and kissed her cheek where the cut was and then I stiffened up, realizing that was too bold of me to do. I pulled back and looked at her to gauge her reaction.

She just smiled at me and put her hand gently on my face. "It's ok Edward. That one will heal that much faster now." Her words warmed my nervous heart and I laid my head in her hand, closing my eyes, enjoying this moment.

"Bella, Edward where are you?" Alice's chipper voice called out from the other room, called me out of my place of joy.

"We're in here Alice." I said as I opened the door. "I was re-bandaging her cuts."

"Really now" she smirked with a glint in her eye. Bella let out another laugh and that beautiful blush came back into her face.

"I brought you a change of clothes." And with that Alice pulled me out of the bathroom and walked in closing the door behind her.

A little later they came out of the bathroom and that blush was still on Bella's face despite the makeup they had put on her to cover the bruises on her face. I could only imagine what Alice had said to her to make a blush that bright. Alice brought Bella a shirt with a high collar and long sleeves which helped to hide the bruising. She was wearing a pair of loose fitting khakis and well she looked amazing.

Shortly after, Emmett and Rose arrived as did Jasper, Ben and Angela. Mike, Tyler and Eric also came over and everyone had a great time. The game was very close and everyone was cheering and sitting on the edge of their seat. The game came down to a field goal. If the other team made it, the Huskies would lose. We all sat there quietly and watched as the kick went up and just left of the uprights.

"Yes" Bella screamed with a raspy, squeaky voice and jumped up from her seat. All eyes in the room turned and looked at her with amazement and shock. "What?" She said looking at me "I told you my dad rubbed off on me" and then she flicked my nose. I busted out laughing at our private joke and the others soon joined in. This feeling of amazement for Bella filled the room.

All day I noticed Mike kept looking at Emmett like he was expecting him to pounce on him at any moment. I guess he had heard him this morning and must have been scared to death waiting for Emmett to kill him. I had to laugh a little to myself, no one deserved to have the fear of Emmett, but considering the way he pawed after Bella that night at the party, it couldn't hurt for him to have a little bit of fear.

Bella was happy, and at that moment nothing else mattered. After the game everyone stuck around and we played Scene It. I was sitting next to Bella on the couch and whenever she knew the answer to a question she would press the button and then whisper the answer to me. She was really good at the game and knew a great deal about movies.

Mike, Tyler and Eric left around 8:00 pm to get ready to go out and party and Ben and Angela left around 9:00 to go to a movie. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rose, Bella and I stayed in the room and watched _Road to Perdition_ which Bella said was one of her favorite movies.

Jasper and Alice lay on my bed, Emmett and Rose on his bed and Bella and I were laying on the couch on our sides, with her back nestled into my chest. I had my arms around her like a cocoon.

About halfway through the movie, I realized she had fallen asleep. I kissed the top of her head and she nestled into the cocoon more.

The next thing I knew it was early morning and we were still lying on the couch, the others still on the beds they were on the night before. Bella had slept through the night without any restlessness. I looked around the room and was amazed at all of the love that was in here for this amazing creature that I held in my arms. I smiled to myself, closed my eyes and fell back asleep.

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**A/N: Reviews are always welcomed. Thanks for all the love received so far! **


	8. Chapter 8

**SM owns all things Twilight**

**Thanks for the love! **

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**Chapter 8**

The pain in my head woke me up well before I wanted to. I don't remember falling asleep, just being in Edward's arm and I was still there. I just wanted to stay this way, but the pain was getting so much worse. _Why now? _I knew I needed to get up and take something before it got worse but when I started to move, it hit me, the thing I was dreading more than anything, nausea.

I jumped up quickly, praying I would make it to the bathroom in time. I could hear Edward calling my name, panic in his voice. I thankfully made it to the bathroom, slammed the door behind me and wretched into the toilet. My head started pounding more and I could feel tears rolling down my face. Oh I hated this moment.

"Bella! What's wrong?" Edward was at the door in a total panic.

"Edward, it's ok. She has a migraine. She must have woken up with it and they often make her sick." Alice said trying to calm him. She was by the door now too but I didn't remember her being in the room. Had she stayed over last night?

"Are you sure?" Edward said, panic still racing in his voice.

"Trust me, she has had these since she was a little girl and I have seen more than my fair share of them to know what to do. I need two washcloths please and could you get me a Coke or something with caffeine in it."

Alice came into the bathroom and wet the washcloths one with cold water and the other with warm water. I reached up and flushed the toilet and then lay back on the floor. It was cold and felt so good. Alice took the warm cloth and wiped my mouth and eyes. She then took the cold cloth and laid it over my forehead and eyes.

"Alice are your sure, she looks so pale." Edward said handing Alice a bottle of Coke.

"Sit up a minute dear, drink a little bit of this." Alice said to me in her loving way. I sat up to take a drink of the Coke and my head started pounding again. I knew the caffeine would help, but I just wanted to lay back down on the cold floor.

"Alice we need to get her off the cold, hard bathroom floor." Edward said

"No Edward, as odd as it sounds this is what she needs. The cold helps to regulate her body temperature, bring it back down and that helps to take away some of the pressure. Trust me; I know what I am doing."

"But that doesn't make sense." He protested again. I wanted to say something to him to make him feel better, but the pain was just too much and I worried that the nausea would come back if I spoke.

Alice stood up and gently pushed Edward out of the doorway. "Edward I know you are pre-med, but trust me, she has had migraines longer than you have been pre-med. She knows what works and what doesn't. We will be out once her body temp has cooled down and the nausea is gone. Then she will lay down and try and sleep it off." And with that she closed the door on him.

"Thank you Alice" I whispered.

"No problem darling" she said. She sat down beside me and began to run her hand up and down my arm. The soothing motion was relaxing. Poor Alice has been through her fair share of these with me and had become quite the expert on them.

"You know my beautiful Bella; I believe our sweet Edward has developed feelings for you." She cooed

"Alice he just worries about me that's all. I believe he thinks of me as a sister now, like Em." I said trying not to get my hopes up over the possibility that he liked me as more than just a friend or little sister.

"No my dear, I believe it is more than just worry. And trust me; brothers don't look at sisters the way he looks at you." I didn't say anything else, just laid there trying not to let my mind get carried away.

EPOV

I paced the floor of my room trying to figure out what just happened. Everything was so quiet, peaceful and warm. I was pulled out of a blissful sleep by the feeling of Bella rushing out of my arms, into the bathroom and the sounds of her getting sick. My mind was racing all over the place when Alice coolly walked by me telling me it was just a migraine and started giving me orders. Now it feels like they have been in there forever.

"Edward you need to sit down." Emmett said. I shot him a go to hell look and kept pacing. "Seriously dude, you need to chill. I've seen this before myself. That poor thing has had migraines as long as I can remember. Bella and Alice both know how to deal with this; it's not a big deal."

I could hear sounds of movement in the bathroom. The sound of water running and someone brushing their teeth, did this mean she was feeling better?

The door of the bathroom opened up and Alice came out. "Alright, everybody out. Bella needs to try and sleep this off and she needs absolute quiet." Man she could be very bossy for someone so tiny. Emmett, Rose and Jasper got up and walked over to Jasper's room. "You too Edward, out"

"Are you kidding me?" I asked her with disdain.

"Edward she is just going to lie down and go back to sleep. The quieter things are the better. Once she gets in the bed, I am going to leave too."

"Alice I am not leaving her in here by herself. I will just hang out in here and read or chill. I'll be very quiet."

"Edward, why are you being so damn stubborn?" Alice stomped her foot at me.

"It's ok Alice." Bella whispered as she walked out of the bathroom. She was very pale and her hands were shaking.

Being Bella she still tried to put a smile on her face. Alice helped her over to my bed and she crawled under the covers. She laid the washcloth back across her forehead and eyes. Alice leaned in and kissed the top of her head and then turned to leave.

As she went to leave Alice grabbed my hand then put her finger over her lips as if to tell me to keep quiet and then winked at me before leaving.

I closed the door and stood there for a minute trying to figure out what to do that wouldn't make too much noise. I went over to my book bag thinking I would do some homework, but then stopped as the zipper made too much noise. I then went over to get my iPod, but it dropped and I cringed at the noise it made. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out something and silently screaming at myself for being such a klutz all of a sudden. And then I heard this tiny little laugh. Bella had pulled the washcloth up on one side and was looking at me standing there and giggling.

"It's ok Edward; you don't have to be that quiet." She smiled

"Bella I can leave if you want me too. I don't want to bother you."

"Come here Edward" She said as she held up her hand. I walked over and took her hand and sat down on the floor next to the bed. She laid the cloth back down over her eyes, a smile still on her face.

"Bella would it bother you if I hummed to you?"

"I would like that very much thank you."

I started to hum the same lullaby I had the other night and ran my free hand up and down her arm. She fell asleep a few minutes later.

I sat there for the longest time, humming to her and holding her hand. As much as I hated to admit it, Alice was right; she seemed to be ok so I decided to take a shower.

I gathered all of my stuff together and climbed into the stream of warm running water. I just sat there, my head against the wall, letting the warm wash over me. I suddenly felt like I had ADD, not being able to concentrate on any one thing. The way Bella looked when I found her. What she went through. What could have happened to her. What she had to do to escape. The strength that she had. The beauty of her smile, the feeling of her skin, the touch of her hand. The way her kiss felt on my cheek, how good it felt to hold her in my arms, how nice it was to wake up next to her. The fact that more than anything I wanted to kiss her. More than anything I wanted to feel her body fully against mine. The way she…._AW_ _FUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKK! What the hell are you doing, what the hell are you thinking Cullen!_ I screamed at myself. _You have to get control of yourself! You have to stop thinking this is more than what it is. You have to… hurry up and get out of the shower because this water is freezing. How long have I been in here? _

I quickly finished my shower, dressed and walked out. I half expected Bella to be awake, but she was still sleeping. She had curled up onto her side and was sleeping in a ball. I worried that she was having a bad dream. I wanted to go over to her and wake her, to make sure she was ok, to hold her in my arms. _Damn it you are doing it again. You need to get out of here for a bit, clear your head. _I walked over to Bella and brushed the hair out of her face. _God she is beautiful. Stop it!_

"Bella, I have to step out for a minute, but I'll be back." I whispered but she didn't stir. I stood there for a moment just staring at her. _Clear your head Cullen!_ I needed to talk to someone about what I was feeling, someone who could listen to my story and give an objective opinion. I walked out into the hall, closed the door, slinked down to the floor and pulled out my cell phone.

"_Hey Edward, how are you?"_

"Not good dad. I really need to talk to you."

I recounted the past few days' events to my dad. I told him about the feelings that were trying to consume me and about all of the confusion that I was going through. He quietly listened, never interrupting me or saying anything. When I finished my story I sat there and waited.

_Well Edward, you have been busy the past couple of days haven't you?_

"Dad" I said a little annoyed

_I know, not the time for humor or sarcasm. I wish I knew what to tell you. The attack alone is one thing to have to deal with really for both of you since you are so much a part of it now, but then to have the feelings that you have now on top of it. You said you know her through Emmett, did you know her that well before this happened._

"Not as well as I would have liked." I answered honestly

_What do you mean by that?_

"We would talk a little whenever she and Emmett's sister Alice would stop by the room to see Emmett and I would see her around, either when I was on duty doing rounds or when she would visit the guys she knows across the hall. Alice would tell me things about Bella when I would see them, I think to get my attention, but the funny thing is the more she told me about her, the more interested in her I became. And then a few weeks after school started we were at a party at the house and this guy she went to high school with was bothering her, trying crudely to get her attention when Alice blurted out that she could not like him because she had a crush on me. Unfortunately when she said it, the music stopped and everyone in the room heard her, including me. For a moment I was happy, but then the look on Bella's face made me realize that she didn't really have a crush on me so I just sort of let it drop."

_Edward did you think maybe the look on her face was because she did or does have a crush on you but didn't want anyone to know it, especially not under those circumstances?_

"Well I wanted that to be the case, but then I was afraid to go there. Plus there was the whole mess with Tanya and trying to end things with her and I guess I just didn't want to deal with the rejection."

_Well I guess I can understand that. Do you think you can handle still being there for her now?_

"Absolutely! I can't just walk away from her unless she wants me to. I know the more I am around her my feelings for her will just continue to grow, but I cannot leave her now. I worry about what it would do to her. And I just don't think I can be without her. If I have to be a friend or big brother like Emmett I will just have to do that, but as Emmett said, she has drawn me in and there is no turning back."

_What does Emmett mean 'drawn you in'?_

"We had this conversation about Bella a few months ago about how people seem to be drawn to her and he said there is just something about her that draws people in, he didn't know what it was though. And it's true; you should see how people react to her. And then there was the way Emmett acted when I told him about what happened to Bella, he broke down and cried. He actually cried Dad. Of course that was before he tried to kill the wrong person."

_Emmett cried? Well that proves your mother right!_

"What do you mean?" I asked very surprised

_She always said Emmett was just a big teddy bear hiding behind all of that brawn._ He laughed.

"Mom always was very perceptive."

_Edward I know you want to do the right thing by Bella and I would expect nothing less than that from you, but please make sure you don't end up with a broken heart at the same time. Once things have found some normalcy back in her life, talk to her, found out what she's thinking and then figure out if you can continue to be a part of her life or if you need to walk away._

"You're right dad, I know you are. Thanks for listening to me. Hey are you guys still coming next weekend for parent's weekend?"

_It's all your mother has talked about it. Maybe we'll get a chance to meet Bella?_ He asked sounding hopeful.

"I would like that. I have to warn you though, mom may adopt her as the daughter she never had."

_I think I'll wait and just let her meet Bella instead of saying anything to her, she is giddy enough as it. I'm not sure I could handle her any more hyped up. _We both laughed in agreement on that statement. _I'm proud of you Edward, it takes a good man to put his life on hold and take care of_ _someone else like you have_. I could hear that pride in his voice.

"Thanks. I love you dad"

_I love you too._

After I hung up the phone I sat there for a minute thinking about everything my dad had said. I knew he was right about talking to Bella, but now the thing was figuring out what normalcy in her life would be like and just when that would happen. I could hear Emmett and Jasper in Jasper's room playing Wii. Emmett's voice could carry down five hallways let alone three doors. I looked at my watch and realized dad and I had been talking for about 45 minutes and I wanted to get back in and check on Bella. I knocked on the door lightly not wanting to walk in on her if she was changing, but I heard nothing. I opened the door slowly and could see that Bella was still sleeping in that same curled up position as she had been. I walked over to her and she appeared to be shaking. I was concerned that she was having a bad dream, but when I sat down on the bed I could tell something wasn't right.

"Bella" I said lightly but got no response. "Bella" I said again but louder this time still with no response. I gently put my hand on her arm to shake her and she stirred slightly, she felt warm.

"Edward?" Her voice was shaky, almost like her teeth were chattering.

"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"I'm freezing Edward." She rolled over and despite her saying she was freezing, she had sweat on her forehead and she looked clammy. I put the back of my hand on her head and she was burning up.

"Bella sweetie you are on fire, is this normal for a migraine?"

"No" she whispered

"Bella, are you in any pain?"

"My head feels better, but the rest of my body hurts."

"All over?" She shook her head yes.

"Bella, I am going to go get Emmett. We need to take you back to the hospital." She tried to get up to protest but she could barely lift herself up off the pillow.

"Bella, no protesting, Dr.'s orders!" I tried to make her laugh, make myself laugh really, but it did no good. I was scared. "I'll be right back."

I rushed over to Jasper's room and threw open the door. The look on my face must have been dire because Emmett jumped up from his seat and was halfway out the door before I could say anything.

"What's wrong?" he asked rushing back to our room

"She's very sick; she is burning up and has very little strength. I need to get her back to the hospital."

Emmett threw open the door. I expected the noise to startle Bella, but she just lay there. Alice, Rose and Jasper came in to the room quickly behind us.

"Bella" I walked over to her but got no response. "Bella, Emmett is here and we are going to take you to the hospital." Still no response. I sat on the bed and shook her arm. "Bella" Nothing "BELLA" I screamed and shook her. Still nothing

"Emmett she's not responding we need to get…." Before I could finish he pushed me out of the way and picked her up.

"Jasper, is your car still out front?" he said as he was making his way to the door. Jasper tore out behind him and the rest of us followed close behind. When we got to the car, Emmett crawled in the back with Bella and I slide in beside them. Before closing the door he leaned up to tell Rose to follow them in his jeep. Alice climbed in the front seat.

"Edward, I can feel her heartbeat racing, that isn't good is it?" Emmett said in a panic.

"No Emmett, that isn't good at all, Jasper do you think you can speed up a little…" before I could finish the car accelerated.

The rest of the way there, Emmett and I kept trying to get her to wake up and talk with us, but we never got any kind of movement.

We made it to the hospital in no time at all. We rushed her into the ER and luckily Dr. Turner was the first person we saw.

"Dr. Turner, I don't know if you remember me but I was here the other night. This young lady was attacked and you…"

"Yes Edward I remember you. What's wrong with Bella? Ms. Mallory exam room 4 please." The nurse he had just spoken with was showing us back to an exam room. Alice, Jasper and Rose were not allowed to follow us back.

"She woke up this morning with a migraine and she got sick. Afterwards she laid down to sleep it off. She had been a sleep for almost two hours when I noticed that she was shaking. When I woke her to check on her, she could barely speak and was not able to lift herself up in bed. She said she was freezing but when I touched her she was burning up. I walked out of the room for a moment to get Emmett here to help me bring her back to the hospital and when we got back in the room she was completely unresponsive."

We made our way to the exam room and Emmett laid Bella down on the bed. Nurse Mallory grabbed a thermometer and pressure cuff. Dr. Turner checked her pupils and tried to get Bella to respond. Emmett and I stood over to the side.

"Bella can you hear me? It's Dr. Turner, can you wake up for me Bella. Her pupils are not dilating."

"Dr Turner her temp is 105 and her BP is 70 over 40 and she is at 100 bpm."

"Dr. Turner you have to do something quickly." I said rushing over to her side. A temp that high, bp that low and an accelerated heartbeat are not good at all.

"Edward, has there been any problems with her wounds, have you seen any signs of infection?"

"No, we re-bandaged them a couple of times, always cleaning them before hand." He looked at the wound on her neck and than her leg.

"Has she complained of pain, fever or any other problems?"

"She said she was in a little bit of pain and something about bringing down her body temperature to help the headache. She took the stuff you gave us Friday night but because it knocked her out she didn't want to take it anymore. She has been taking Tylenol pretty regularly. She did not take anything this morning because she got sick as soon as she got up."

Still unable to get a response from Bella, Dr, Turner turned to us.

"Edward, I'm afraid you two are going to have to leave so we can run some tests."

"We are not leaving her!" both Emmett and I screamed at the same time.

"Edward, listen to me, I need you two to leave. I know this is hard for you, but being a Dr's kid you of all people know how this is going to work. I hate to say this, but you either leave on your own or I'm going to have security escort you off the premise."

"The hell you say" Emmett screamed, rushing over to Bella as if to take her out of here.

"Emmett he's right. It's not doing her any good with us being in here right now."

"But Edward…" he looked at me like I had just betrayed him.

"Emmett I am not happy about this either, but unfortunately there is nothing we can do for her right now." He shook his head in disgust and stormed out of the room. I leaned down and kissed Bella's head before turning and walking out of the room.

"Edward wait, I'm not trying to be a hard ass here, but Bella is my first concern right now. I need to have total focus on her and I cannot do that with the two of you in here, you know that. As soon as I know something, I promise you I will come and let you know."

"Thank you Dr. Turner" I whispered, hanging my head down as I walked out of the room. I stood outside of the exam room for a moment, watching them work on Bella and I could feel the tears starting to wail up in my eyes. "God please let her be ok." I whispered.

When I made my way back to the waiting room, Emmett was pacing back and forth and Rose was trying to calm him down. Jasper was holding Alice in her arms, her head on his shoulder sobbing. None of us acknowledged the other. I walked over to a chair and sunk down into it, burying my head in my hands. The waiting room was loud, filled with people, but all I could hear was Bella's weak voice telling me she was freezing. Why _was this happening? How could she survive an attack and then have some stupid infection do this to her?_ I wanted to scream again, but I couldn't. I had nothing left in me, no strength, no faith, nothing!

We had been sitting there for over an hour when Dr. Turner came and got us. He asked us to follow him to a private consult room. Fear over took me at that point, because I knew they usually used these rooms to deliver very bad news. Emmett would not look at me the whole time. I knew he was still mad at me for making him leave Bella.

"Edward I am not supposed to do this because you are not family, but knowing that you were here with her Friday, I feel that I need to. Her blood work shows signs of Sepsis."

"What the hell is that?" Emmett asked.

"It's an infection that gets into the blood stream and spreads throughout the body. It more than likely started as Lymphangitis from the stab wound on her leg."

"But Dr. Turner I cleaned that wound several times, there was no puss, no warmth, no swelling. I never noticed red streaking either."

"Edward given the bruising around that wound, the red streaking would not have been noticeable."

"What are you doing for her?" I asked still trying to get my head around this.

"We have her on a very high dose of antibiotics to fight Sepsis. She woke up briefly while we were working on her, but she didn't say anything and then she was unresponsive again. We are moving her ICU to treat her and prevent any further compromise to her immune system or her internal organs. We should know more in a couple of hours as the antibiotics have a chance to work through her system."

"How did this happen? I was very careful with her wounds and they did not look infected at all. She was fine until a few hours ago. How could an infection spread that quickly and make her that sick without any other signs or symptoms?" I asked, really begged.

"Chances are she developed the infection while she was here Friday night and it slowly spread throughout her body. The Tylenol that she has been taking masked the fever, chills and pain that she would have experienced. Her body has been under tremendous stress these past few days with the attack and then with the added stress a person's body goes through with a migraine her immune system has been greatly compromised. Her white blood count is well over 14,000. ICU is up on the 8th floor and there is a waiting room up there that you all can move to. I will continue to check in on her and let you know as soon as there is any change." He patted me on the shoulder and walked out of the room. I stood there for a minute feeling like my world was crumbling. I refused to turn around and face the others with my failures.

"I..I..don't know what I did wrong? I should have cleaned the wounds better; I should have examined her leg closer for red streaking. I shouldn't have let so many people around her, I should have… I should have…"

"Damn it Edward, shut the fuck up!" Emmett walked over to me and turned me around to face him. "It wasn't anything that you did. We all saw what good care you took care of her, a hell of lot better than the rest of us could have done. If you need to blame someone, blame the bastard who attacked her. She wouldn't be sick if it wasn't for him and what he did to her. This has nothing to do with the care you gave her, it's his fault entirely." I knew he was right, but I couldn't help but blame myself.

"Alice"

"Yes Edward" her voice was broken from the sobs

"Do you have her parents' number? I guess they are going to find out much sooner than Bella wanted, but we have to let them know."

"I do, I'll call them now." She stepped away from the group to place the call.

This is not the way I wanted to meet her parents for the first time!

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**A/N Reviews are always welcomed! **


	9. Chapter 9

**SM owns all things Twilight**

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**Chapter Nine**

_Sam Uley_

"Det. Uley, its Edward Cullen. I'm really sorry to call you on your cell on a Sunday." I said with great hesitation. Knowing that Bella's father was the Chief of Police in Forks once he found out what happened he would want more details about everything and I wanted to give the detectives a heads up.

_Edward, it's no problem at all. How is Bella doing?_

"Not very well I'm afraid. She is back in the hospital. It seems she has developed an infection and is in ICU while they try to fight it." I'm sure he could hear the fear in my voice even though I tried to be professional.

_Edward I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?_

"Well that's why I called. I wanted to give you a head's up on something. See Bella never called her parents because she was afraid her father would pull her out of school. They are on their way from Forks now and it turns out her father is the Chief of Police there and I'm sure as soon as he finds out what happened he will want to meet with you and Det. Black to see how or where things stand."

_Of course Edward we will be happy to speak with her parents. When do you expect them?_

"They should be here in the next two hours."

_I'll get Jake and we will meet you guys over there in a few hours. Edward would you like us to be the ones to inform them of the attack?_

"Thank you sir, but no. I feel like I need to be the one to tell them. When she told me she didn't want them to know, I should have pushed the issue further but I didn't, so I feel I should tell them now."

_Edward she is an adult, she has the right not to tell them. I think its best you didn't go against her wishes and the only reason you are doing it now is because she is very sick._

I knew what he said was true, but it still felt like I had let her parents down.

"Thank you again sir, but I need to do this for Bella."

_Ok Edward, but if you change your mind, we are here for both of you. I hope Bella will be ok. We'll see you in a few hours._

It seemed like it took forever for Bella's parents to get there but once they came rushing in to the waiting room, it felt like it had not been long enough.

"Alice, Emmett how is she? Where is the doctor?" her mother frantically said while rushing over to Alice and Emmett.

Renee Swan was a pretty woman and I could see that Bella favored her, but when her father Charlie came into view I could see that she got her hair and eyes from her father. A father that was quite an imposing looking man. I could not figure out if it was the fact that I knew he was legally allowed to carry a gun or the fact that I really was dreading telling him the truth that scared me more.

"She's in ICU, isolated while they try to fight the infection. The doctor is in with her now." Alice did everything she could not to look Bella's father in the face.

"What happened? How did she get an infection and how did it become Sepsis?" I knew it was now or never to step up.

"Mr. and Mrs. Swan, my name is Edward Cullen, I'm Emmett's roommate. " I placed my hand out to shake theirs and while Renee took mine quickly, Charlie did so very hesitantly.

Emmett knowing what I was about to do tried to stop me, but I just looked at him, telling him silently that I needed to do this.

"I'm afraid Bella's infection came from wounds that she received when she was attacked Friday night."

"What!" Charlie screamed.

Tears spilled from Renee's eyes as I recounted the story for the two of them about the attack and about Bella staying with me, with all of us really the past two days. The further I got into the story, the madder I could tell her father was getting. I knew it was only a matter of time before he exploded and when he did that was it for Bella, she would be taken out of school, and made to return home. The idea of her leaving left me in so much pain, I didn't think I would be able to continue.

"I knew we shouldn't have let her leave Forks!" Charlie yelled at Renee. "When she wakes up she is coming home."

"Charlie please stop that." Renee snapped back at him.

"Why the hell are we just now finding out about this?" Charlie yelled looking first at Emmett and then at me.

"She was concerned about calling. She didn't want to worry you." I said quietly.

"Why did the police not contact us then?" his glare was fixed directly on me now.

"Sir, she is legally an adult now and when they asked she told them no." I said sheepishly.

"Oh that's total bullshit! I'm her father; I have a right to know these things."

"Sir, with all due respect, they were just following the wishes of Bella." I said trying to stand my ground for Bella, but felt like I was failing miserably.

That was the wrong thing to say. Before I knew what was happening, her father had slammed me up against the wall and looked as if he was going to kill me.

I could see Emmett moving closer to us, ready to stop Charlie from taking it any further then he already had.

"And what are your wishes exactly? What did you think you were going to accomplish by getting in tight with her at this moment? Takes a real low life to try and take advantage of a young girl who is at her weakest. How long did it take you to convince her not to tell her parents? What exactly have been your thoughts and intentions with my daughter these past few days? You're lucky I don't just beat you into this wall you perverted son of a…"

"Charles Swan stop it right now and let that poor boy go!" All eyes in the room shot to her mother who had managed to work her way in between the Chief and I on one side. "This boy saved your daughter's life, stood beside her during what had to have been hell and has given up the past two days of his life to care for her. And to top it off he clearly has more respect for her then you do because he honored her wishes not to contact us. He could have just left her on her own after that awful moment, but he didn't. He cares enough about your daughter to not even fight you back right now, while you are acting like a total jack ass! I suggest that unless you want to lose her, you apologize to him right now!" His gaze left me for a moment, turning to Renee with disbelief, but he refused to let me go.

"Renee, stay out of this!"

"Charlie I mean it let him go now!" She was about the same height as Bella but she did not let her small frame back her down. She was fierce at this moment and Charlie knew it. He let go of me and pulled away from Renee.

"Charlie, apologize."

"Sorry" he huffed like a kid who had to apologize but didn't want to. Renee turned to me and pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you Edward for everything that you have done these past few days. Bella is very lucky to have you in her life right now."

"You're damn right she is!" Emmett threw in, glaring at Charlie.

"Emmett, it's ok." Renee said patting him on the arm. "Thank you to all of you for being there for her. While I really wish one of you had called us before now, I know Bella and how stubborn she is and am not surprised at all that she did not want to call." Her glare shot back to Charlie as she finished with those words.

Renee held out her hand to me. Taking it she led me over to two of the chairs in the room.

"Well Edward, Bella certainly was right about you." She said, still holding my hand as we sat down.

"What?" I asked in total shock. I couldn't believe Bella had spoken to her mother about me.

"Bella told me that you were a great guy, always looking out for her and Alice and even that big bear over there." She smiled pointing her head over to Emmett.

"Hey" Emmett protested, sounding just like a kid.

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't believe Bella thought that about me, thought enough about me to tell her mother about me. What else had they talked about? Could it be that Bella really did have a crush on me? And if so, did she still?

"Bella has always been a very good judge of character." Renee continued.

"Doubt that!" Charlie interrupted her, giving me a look that made me tremble.

"Charlie!" she shot back at him. He turned away from her again. "Bella knew from the moment that she met you that you were special, that you were going to be important in her life and while I know there was no chance in hell she could have ever thought it would be in this way, she knew and she was right."

I couldn't think. My head was spinning. She thought I was special? She thought I was going to be important? Out of the corner of my eye I could see a smile gleam across Alice's face. What was that about?

I was just sitting there, overwhelmed by this news when Detectives Uley and Black walked in.

"Edward, how is she doing?" Det. Black asked.

"She is still in ICU; we haven't heard anything else since I last spoke with you. Detective Uley, Detective Black, this is Renee Swan, Bella's mother." I said pointing them in her direction. She stood and shook hands with them. "And this is Charlie Swan…"

"Chief Swan, I'm Bella's father!" he jumped up interrupting my introduction. "I would like to know just what the hell is going on around here!" he stated.

"Chief Swan, Mrs. Swan, I understand that you would have liked to have found out about this before now, but seeing as Bella is an adult, she has the right to determine who and when she tells." Detective Uley said with his own voice of authority.

"Why the hell does everyone keep saying that? She is not an adult; she is still just a kid." Charlie yelled to no one in particular.

"Charlie she is not a kid any more. She is not the 10 year old you still have in your mind. She is eighteen and yes that means she is an adult. An adult who will never speak to you again if I know my daughter as well as I think I do if you do not stop acting like this right now!" Renee yelled right back at him.

He looked at Renee, pain and hurt taking over his face now. He turned his back to us and lowered his head. I couldn't be sure, but it looked like he was crying. Renee sighed and walked over to him, putting her arm around his waist. He turned to her and they embraced.

"Chief Swan, I know this is very difficult for you. I cannot even begin to imagine what you must be feeling right now, but I want you to know that we are going to find this guy and he will be punished for what he did. If you would like, we could go over everything we have so far." Detective Uley said.

The detectives and Charlie went down to the cafeteria to discuss the facts of the case but Renee chose to stay behind with us. Alice had moved over to sit by Renee and she had her head resting on her shoulder. Renee was soothing her by rubbing her fingers through Alice's hair. Emmett was standing behind them with one hand on Alice's shoulder and another on Renee's. It was a very intimate moment, one that conveyed pain, fear, hope and love. Love for each other and more than anything love for the beautiful girl that lay in ICU, antibiotics running through her body trying to fight an infection. I just started at them in awe when Renee looked over to me and smiled. I felt like I was betraying them and quickly looked away. Renee took her free hand and grabbed mine, pulling me closer to the group, silently telling me that I belonged in this group as much as the other.

I was so thankful for that small gesture that spoke volumes. I so desperately want to be a part of this intimate group now. This group that loved Bella wholly and that was wholly loved by her.

Charlie and the detectives came back up about an hour later, bringing coffee for everyone. I was very surprised when Charlie handed me one, not saying anything, but I took the gesture as something big on his part.

"Thank you sir." I quietly said. He threw his head up as if to say yeah and I knew that was all I was going to get out of him. It was better than our previous encounter.

"Edward" I turned to see Dr. Turner and another doctor coming into the waiting room.

"Dr. Turner, this is Charlie and Renee Swan, Bella's parents." I wanted to make sure Dr. Turner did not say something to me that would get him in trouble. Things were a bit better with Charlie but I didn't want to push my luck.

"Mr. and Mrs. Swan, I'm Dr. Turner. I am the ER doctor who took care of your daughter when she came in earlier and on Friday night after the attack." Charlie looked as if he was about to pounce on the good doctor, someone else to blame for not contacting him immediately. Renee grabbed his arm, not looking at him and he backed down.

"This is Dr. Baker. He is caring for your daughter now." We all looked to both doctors to get any information as to Bella's condition.

"Bella developed an infection at the site of the cut on her leg that spread as Sepsis throughout her blood stream. While there was no indication of the infection from the wound itself, this infection has been spreading since Friday night. We have been able to stabilize her some and the antibiotics have been able to bring the fever down to 100°, her BP is up to 110 over 74 and her heart beat has slowed down to 89 beats per minute. While we feel better about her blood pressure, her fever and heart beat are higher than we would like them to be. We need to keep her isolated until everything has returned to normal and blood tests come back…"

"I want to see my daughter now." Charlie said interrupting Dr. Baker.

"Sir I know that you want to see Bella, but at this time, we cannot risk the possibility of additional immune system compromises."

Charlie started to demand again, when Renee placed her hand on his arm. "Is she awake yet?" Renee asked.

"No she is not. We have her pretty sedated right now. Her body needs sleep to help fight the infection. If her temperature remains at its current level or below we will begin to take her off the sedatives allowing her wake up on her own." The room grew suddenly silent as everyone took in the doctor's words. "I will be monitoring her condition and as soon as I know more I will be sure to come and let you all know."

Dr. Baker and Dr. Turner went back to their rounds and Det. Uley and Det. Black left telling Charlie that they would be back in touch with him the next day. We all sat there quietly waiting until Dr. Baker came back with additional information.

Renee and Charlie sat down together, Renee nestling into Charlie's arm. Jasper and Alice mirrored the same position. Emmett went to call Ben to let him and Angela know what was going on and to call his and Alice's parents as well. They were as much a part of Bella's family as the rest of them and Emmett knew they would be upset if they were not informed. I sat down in the corner, the person I most wanted to be with, heavily sedated in ICU. I didn't notice Rose coming over to me until she spoke.

"Hey Edward, how are you holding up?" Rose asked with a sincere tone. Rose and I never really spoken other than friendly acknowledgments of each other, and I had never really seen her talk that much to Bella either. In fact I have never known her or even seen her without Emmett and it seemed odd to be sitting with her now.

"I'm fine." I lied trying to hold it all together.

"Come on Edward, I know you are not fine." She placed her hand on my knee in a comforting manner. I was surprised by her touch. This definitely was not something I thought Rose to be capable of. "I have seen you be the pillar of strength since this happened; I know this cannot be easy for you."

I didn't know what to say. She was right, I was not fine, but I was so surprised at the heartfelt gesture coming from Rose that I wasn't sure how to proceed.

"Edward, I know you and I have never really talked much but that doesn't mean I am not genuinely concerned about Bella and you both. I really like Bella, I always have, but I guess I always let my insecurities get the best of me when it comes to her and Em's relationship. I know he thinks of her as a sister, but I also see that he would give his world up for her and I guess I'm jealous." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I never would have thought of Rose as a jealous person, she seemed too wrapped up in herself to let anyone else into her mind like that.

"Rose, I know for a fact Emmett loves you more than anything else in this world. He thinks the same of Bella that he does of Alice, you know that right?" I said trying to comfort her.

"I know that, I always have, but what can I say, despite what I may put off, I'm really just an insecure girl." She flashed me a smile and looked away quickly, trying to fight back tears. "So Edward you never did tell me, how are you holding up?" She finally said, looking back to me.

"Not very well I'm afraid. I'm not sure what to do with myself right now. I'm kind of use to being in control of situations, and this is just so out of my control." I lowered my eyes from hers and looked down at my hands.

"Bella's lucky it was you who found her." I looked up at her again shocked that she would say this. I started to say something else when Emmett came back into the room.

"Renee, mom would like to speak with you." Emmett handed his phone over to Renee and she began to fill in Emmett's mother on Bella's condition.

"Rose, I'm kind of hungry" Emmett said "Let's go grab a bit to eat around the corner. Sis, you guys want to go?" Emmett asked, looking over towards Alice and Jasper.

"I'm going to stay here, but Jasper will go with you and bring me something back." Jasper looked at Alice surprised and started to say something when she looked at him, not saying a word and he subtly nodded. Alice had him wrapped all right.

"Edward you want to come?" Emmett asked turning back to me.

"No I'm good. I'll stay here with Alice." I smiled up at him.

As the others left the room, Alice came over to sit down beside me and she took my hand in hers. Leaning back in our chairs, we sat there quietly holding hands. Much the same way Emmett and I found her and Bella the day before. It was comforting to do so. For all of Alice's hyper-ness I noticed that she had been pretty quiet these past few days and she had hardly spoken since we brought Bella to the hospital. She seemed lost, like something, some part of her was missing. I could only guess that something was Bella. I felt that way myself, that something was missing and that that something was Bella.

I looked over to Alice and smiled. I suddenly felt like I had known her my whole life. Alice smiled back at me nodding her head like she knew everything I was thinking and feeling at that moment. I was now deeply entrenched in Bella's world and despite everything, it felt like heaven.

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A/N Thank you for the love I have gotten for this story. It means the world! Thoughts questions and reviews are always welcomed!


	10. Chapter 10

**SM owns all things Twilight**

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**Chapter Ten**

Alice and I had been so quiet sitting together that she had put her head on my shoulder and fallen asleep. Renee had returned from her call with Emmett and Alice's mom and the look on her face was that of sheer exhaustion. She and I exchanged half-hearted smiles as she returned back to the chairs she and Charlie were occupying. I looked at my watch and was shocked to see that it was 11:00 at night. I hadn't been outside since we got to the hospital and there was no way of knowing whether the sun or moon was out from the waiting room.

I was about to drift off myself when Emmett, Jasper and Rose came back into the room bringing food for Alice and I. Alice awoke and when she met Jasper's eyes she could have lit up the room. It was nice to see that despite everything Alice still had someone who helped her keep that amazing energy.

"Hey baby" she cooed as Jasper brought over a container from the Italian restaurant down the road from the hospital.

"Edward, follow me!" Emmett was standing in front of me, waving a bag with food in it.

"Emmett, I'm not hungry." I grumbled trying to dismiss him.

"Nope, not going to work that way Cullen. Get your butt up now, you and I are going to step outside so you can eat and get some fresh air."

"Emmett, I'm not going anywhere." I growled this time.

Emmett handed the bag over to Rose who was standing beside him, put his hands on my arms and very forcible picked me up out of the chair onto my feet.

"Do you really want to do this with me?" He asked looking very menacing. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not, but I will admit I was a little scared.

"Emmett, stop man handling that poor boy now." Renee said as she walked over to the two of us. Her tone was very motherly and Emmett melted immediately, letting me go.

"Edward, listen to Emmett. You need to eat and you need to get out of here for a little bit."

"Mrs. Swan…." I started to protest. For a minute there I thought she was on my side but that was not the case.

"First of all Edward anybody who saves my daughter's life is too much like family to call me Mrs. Swan. I expect Renee or I will be highly offended. Second of all, you need to get out of here and regain some of your sanity." I opened my mouth to say something but she put her hand up, cutting me off in that same motherly way. "You and I both know that she will not be waking up in the next few hours and given the time, the doctors are not going to give us an update anytime soon. Go, go with Emmett, eat, get some fresh air and come back with a clear head for when our Bella wakes up." _Our Bella._ God I loved those words and being a part of _our_.

I lowered my head knowing there was no way in hell I was going to win this argument. Having Renee speak to me in that tone made me think of Esme. I bet those two will love each other if and when they meet. I really hope it's when.

"Edward I promise I will call you if anything happens." Alice said as I turned to follow Emmett out of the room.

Emmett and I made our way to an outdoor patio area off of the hospital cafeteria. There were tables and chairs and Emmett made his way over to one of them and began pulling food out of the bag. The air was cool but not chilly which was unusual for Seattle in November. The cool air was nice and helped to pull me out of my daze a bit.

"Edward" Emmett said to me, pointing to the food he had laid out for me and the chair he expected me to sit in. "Normally I know Charlie would be the one having this conversation with you, but as we both know his mind is elsewhere at the moment that leaves me in charge of things."

I looked up at Emmett with confusion. "Emmett what the hell are you going on about?" I began to dig into the container of baked ziti that was laid out in front of me. I didn't realize how hungry I was until the smell of the wonderful food hit my senses. It tasted as good as it smelled.

"Edward Cullen, what are your intentions with my sister Bella." I started to choke on the food in my mouth.

"What the fuck!" I mumbled, spitting food out trying not to gag.

"Edward I want to talk to you about Bella and the feelings you have for her." He was grinning from ear to ear, but I could tell there was an air of seriousness to his humor.

"I don't know what the hell you are talking about." I said while wiping my mouth.

"Edward, don't bullshit me. I know you too well. Despite the whole manly image that people see in me, I am pretty observant and I know what it looks like when someone has feelings for someone else and buddy, it's written all over your face." He looked quiet smug in his declaration.

"Emmett…I…don't…I…mean…yes… aw fuck, Emmett I don't know!" How could I possibly tell Emmett what I was feeling when I wasn't even sure.

"Edward, I'm not going to give you shit about liking Bella. I just wanted you to know that I'm here to listen to you. I see the turmoil written all over your face as you try to work through this and I wanted you to know that I am here for you."

I was shocked, speechless. Did he really see that I was in turmoil? Did the others?

"Emmett, I really don't know. I cannot stop thinking about her. Cannot stop thinking about everything. I have never met anyone like her before in my life. I see how all of you guys care about her, see the way the world seems to light up with her in it. She is…well she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. I love the way she smiles, I love the way her warm brown eyes light up and the way her long hair falls beautifully around her shoulders. I love her laugh and the way she sighs in her sleep. I love how good it feels to have her touch me, how good it feels to hold her in my arms and how good it makes me feel about myself when I get to do those things." I couldn't believe I just said all of that, let it gush out of me and to Emmett of all people.

"Damn boy you have it worse than I thought. That is a lot to take in at once." He chuckled.

"I'm such a mess. My head and my heart are at war with one another. My head tells me that this is all too crazy. That I'm a pervert for feeling anything but protection for her right now and my heart is telling my head to shut the hell up!"

"Edward, how does what you're feeling make you a pervert?"

"Because I'm feeling them now. She has been through hell and come back and the last thing she needs is me pining over her now like a love sick puppy. And why now, why is it now that I feel these things for her? It is completely inappropriate. This isn't a movie Emmett, this is real life and it shouldn't work this way." I threw down the empty fork I had been holding in my hand this whole time, suddenly disgusted with the food but knowing it was really me that I was disgusted with.

"Edward, first of all you didn't just develop these feeling for Bella in the wake of this nightmare and second of all, we cannot control who or when we fall for someone."

"What do you mean, just developed?"

"Edward, I'm not blind. I know you have had a thing for Bella since you first met her. And it was much more than the way she draws people in. Bella made you smile when she walked into the room. You would tell me about the little "Bella things" Alice would tell you and there was love in your tone. I saw how you watched her, not with lust like that jerk Newton and a lot of the other boys in her life, but with so much more. I was going to say something to you a long time ago, but with all of the shit you were going through with Tanya, I knew the timing wasn't right."

"I know this isn't some hero complex you have going on right now. I know eventually you would have realized this on your own and hopefully done something about it, but unfortunately the issue got pushed a little closer to the fore front because of this."

He was right. I knew he was right, but I couldn't admit it, then or now. I had been instantly attracted to Bella from first sight. When I walked in the room and saw her standing there, this wave of warmth swept through me. I wanted nothing more at that moment than to talk to her, touch her, kiss her and be with her. But I didn't do anything about it, because of the shit with Tanya, because I'm stupid and because a part of me thought I couldn't be good enough for her.

"It doesn't really matter now though does it? Things have changed. I have to be there for her in a different light now. Things just have to go back to the way they were before." I looked off to the skyline as I said these words. I felt like crying, knowing that I couldn't think of Bella that way anymore.

"Edward, don't be daft. Nothing has changed. You still have those same feelings for her and she still has them for you."

My head shot back around and glared at Emmett. "What are you talking about?"

"Edward I know you were in the room that night of the rush party. I know you heard she has a crush on you."

"But that…Alice just said that because of Mike." I so wanted to believe it was true, but refused to get my hopes up. "The look on her face, I've never seen anyone that mortified. "

"You know to be so smart, you can be so dense. She was mortified because she was suddenly the center of attention and we both know Bella hates that and because you were in the room. I know Bella as well as my sister does and I know that she has a major crush on you, well had, because it is so much more now. I have never seen Bella look at any other guy the way she looks at you. For all that Bella is she never sees herself that way. She doesn't think she is good enough for you, doesn't think she is even in the same league as you and that's why she was mortified. She was afraid of what you would think of her."

"But that's ridiculous, if anything it is the other way around." I said. Bella was so beyond me it wasn't even funny.

"You both are ridiculous Edward. You both are so much alike. Neither of you sees the potential in yourselves. Neither of you sees how wonderful and special you are. She is beautiful and loving. You are handsome and generous. I have never seen two people better fated to be together."

I could not believe he said that. I wanted to believe that he is right. I wanted to think we are fated to be together. I just sat there, his words running through my head over and over again.

"Edward I can honestly say, I have never really thought any guy was good enough for Bella and deep down neither has she. She's quiet and a lot of guys see that as an advantage, see her as being a girl they can easily dominate, but they are quickly surprised when she calls bullshit on them. I have seen guys walk away from her in shambles when she does that. She isn't mean about it, she just has this level that she reaches with guys and she quickly turns the tables on them. But you Edward, you are the first guy I have seen her genuinely interested in. No one has ever really reached her on the level you have. And so when I see you two together I know that there is no one I would rather see Bella with then you, and no one she would rather see herself with. I know you will take care of her, be good to her and love her the way she deserves."

_Wait love?_

"Love?"

"Yes Edward, love. I'm not saying you should run to her and profess your love, asking her to marry you, but I know that you love her and when you quit being such an ass you will fall in love with her and she will with you. Spend more time together, get to know each other better and let it take its natural progression. Don't brood and over analyze things, just let them happen and you both will be very happy."

I just looked at Emmett and nodded my head, knowing full well he was right. I never thought Emmett would see things this way, never thought Emmett would see me this way. Never thought he would be the one making me realize I needed to just get over it and let this happen. And then I realized more than anything I wanted this to happen, just the way he said it would. I had to spend more time with Bella, get to know her better and let this progress as he said. I made my mind up to quit questioning every little thing and just be with Bella.

Of course I couldn't let Emmett know he was right, I would never hear the end of it.

"Emmett, something you said, it really has me thinking." I smirked

"What Edward?" he answered completely unaware.

"You think I'm handsome?" I leaned towards him and put my hand on top of his.

"Edward you're such a prick! We both know you're not my type." He said shoving my hand off of his and turning beet red. I could not help myself, I just busted out laughing. It was the first time all day I felt anything remotely normal. Man did I need that!

"Try to pay a guy a compliment and this is what I get." Emmett mumbled to himself.

Emmett sat there quietly for a few minutes just watching me laugh. "It's good to see you laugh again Edward."

"It feels good to laugh" I chuckled. I looked at Emmett seeing for the first time just how worn out he really looked.

"Emmett, how are you holding up?"

"Well, I've had better days, but for Bella, I'll pull it together!" He bowed his chest up and slapped it with his palm to show his resolve. I knew that would be all I got out of him.

"What about Alice? She has been very quiet."

"Yeah well, Alice is a different story. Those two seem to have a unique connection, like nothing I have ever seen before. Did you know she is the reason that Bella was only 17 when she started college?"

I looked at him questionably.

"Because Bella's birthday is in September, Renee and Charlie had to decide if she should start at four or wait another year until she was five, almost six to start. Alice is three months older than Bella and she was going to start that year regardless. Alice over heard Renee and mom talking about the fact she and Charlie were thinking about waiting another year for Bella to start which would put her a year behind Alice. Well Alice lost it. This tiny little five year old stood in the middle of our kitchen and screamed at Renee, screamed that she could not allow the two of them to be separated. When mom tried to calm her down, she refused to listen and began holding her breath. Mom yelled at her, did everything she could to get her to breathe but she held her resolve. Shaking her wouldn't even help. She was turning blue and just about to the point of passing out when Renee rushed over and told her that Bella would start at four and that the two of them would be together. Alice let out a big gasp of air, kissed Renee on the cheek and said thank you and flitted out of the room like nothing had ever happened."

"Wow" I shook my head in wonder. "That sounds just like something Alice would do oddly enough."

"She _is_ a mess!" Emmett conceded. "She says the two of them are platonic soul mates, that they were destined to be best friends and that they complement each other. I have never seen anything like the two of them together. It's almost like they have their own language, kind of like what they say about twins. Sometimes they don't even have to speak, they just know if that makes sense."

"Believe it or not it does. I can see that, have seen it."

Things grew quiet again. Both of us sitting there, letting everything wash over us.

"She'll be ok, Edward." Emmett said, patting me on the knee. "Bella is going to be ok and so will the rest of us. Now finish eating young man, or I will have to beat your ass, and I'm not joking about that!"

"Yes sir!" I said with a salute and went back to my Ziti.

After I finished eating, Emmett and I went back to the waiting room. Renee and Charlie had fallen asleep cuddled up next to each other. Alice was finishing her meal and Jasper was talking to her lightly about nothing in particular. Rose was thumbing through a magazine, but I could tell she was not really interested. When she saw Emmett her face brightened. He went over to her and the two of them sat there quietly holding hands.

There was a couch in the corner open and I went over to it and laid down, knowing I needed to get some sleep myself. But all I could think about was how empty my arms felt, not having Bella in them.

I must have fallen asleep at some point though, because the next thing I knew, Emmett was shaking me, trying to wake me up.

"Edward, wake up man, the doctor is here."

His words made me bolt up from the couch. It took me a moment to get my vision together. I looked at my watch quickly and saw that it was 8:43 in the morning. I looked up and saw Renee and Charlie standing by the doctor. Renee was looking at me, motioning me over to them. I got up and quickly walked over to them, fearing the worse.

"Thank you for waiting Dr. Brady." Renee said "Please go ahead." Evidently Renee had asked Dr. Brady to wait until I was awake and could hear the news.

"The antibiotics have done their job. Her temperature has broken and has remained at 99° for the past six hours. We just got her last blood test back and it shows her white blood count has reduced down to 11,000. While there are still traces of the infection in the blood work we feel that it will not be long until it has gone completely. We are also encouraged that her BP has remained normal and her resting rate bpm is down to 70."

Everyone in the room sighed. The air was suddenly lighter, like the tension had been sucked up into the ventilation system.

"As her temp has decreased and remained normal, we have been decreasing the amount of sedatives she is on." He paused for a moment and smiled before finishing. "She woke up about an hour ago. She is alert and able to answer questions. She's going to be ok." Smiles of relief suddenly appeared on everyone's faces.

"We are going to keep her in ICU for another 24 hours at least to make sure the infection is completely gone. Then we will move her to a private room. Given the progress, I think it will be ok to allow visitors in a little bit, but only two at a time. We don't want to push her immune system too quickly. I'll let you know for sure when you can go back."

"Thank you Dr. Brady." Renee said as she turned to hug Charlie. The other couples in the room also hugged before Emmett came over to me and spun me around in a typical Emmett bear hug.

"See brother! I told you she was going to be ok!" A look of pure joy over took his face.

Renee walked over to us and gave me a big hug. It was one of the best hugs I had ever gotten. A hug that was full of love, compassion, joy and understanding.

"I know Edward, I feel the same way." She whispered as she leaned up and kissed my cheek. It was at that time I became aware of the fact I was crying. Tears of joy were falling down my face.

Dr. Brady was about to walk out of the room, when he turned and looked at our group with a smile on his face.

"Oh and Bella is asking for Edward." he said with a smile and then turned and walked out of the room. We all stood there for a moment and then his words hit me!

_Wait, Bella is asking for… me?_

* * *

_A/N Next to Edward, Emmett is my favorite and I wanted to give throw a little love his way and let him shine._


	11. Chapter 11

**SM owns all things Twilight**

Thank you all for the love and interest you have shown for this story!

I back tracked a little for the beginning of this chapter.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

My body was stiff and sore and I felt like I had been asleep of a very long time. A migraine usually made me feel like I had been run over by a truck, but this was different, worse. Everything was different. The bed didn't feel the same, the lights were too bright and there were all of these weird noises.

I opened my eyes and they were immediately flooded with bright white lights.

"Edward?" I said. My voice was as raspy as it had been the night of the attack.

"Is that the big bear of a guy, the quiet blond or the young man who looks like he just walked off a runway?" said a voice I had never heard before.

I blinked my eyes slowly taking in my surroundings. "The one who looks like he just walked off a runway." I said a little irritated at the stranger speaking of Edward that way. I looked over to the voice and saw it was an older lady in scrubs who seemed to be checking the bag that was attached to my arm. She was a nurse, I was in the hospital.

"Don't worry honey, I'm married. But that is a good looking boy." She must have picked up the irritation in my voice. "He's in the waiting room with the rest of your family and friends. My name is Emily by the way."

"Are my parents here?"

"Of course they are sweetie." Shit my dad knew.

"What happened?" I honestly could not remember anything beyond Edward holding my hand, humming to me.

"You developed an infection from the wound on your leg and that became Sepsis. You have been on heavy antibiotics since you arrived. When you came in your fever was 105, your BP was dangerously low, your heart beat was very high and you were non responsive. But the good news is that your temp has been at 99 for the past few hours, your BP is back to normal, your heart beat has slowed down to a good resting rate and you are obviously responsive now." She grinned at me and smoothed the hair off of my forehead.

"So I'm ok?" I asked trying to take everything she had just said in.

"Yes dear, you're going to be ok." She chuckled. "We've paged Dr. Brady and he will be here shortly to check on you."

"And my family?"

"Once Dr. Brady has examined you and given the ok, your family will be able to come and see you then."

"Have they been in here?"

"No they haven't been allowed; Dr. Brady wanted to give your immune system a chance to rebound before allowing them back here."

"Oh."

The thought of my father and Edward in the same room together was awful. I knew my dad would be pissed off about not being told and I knew he would think Edward had something to do it with. He still doesn't believe I can make decisions for myself. At that moment, I wished I could see Edward and make sure he was ok. Hopefully mom would step in if things got out of hand.

A doctor, who I assumed was Dr. Brady, came into the room with a smile on his face.

"Well, look who's up?" His smile grew even bigger. "Hello Bella, my name is Dr. Brady. Do you know where you are?"

"In the hospital." I responded not sure what answer he was looking for.

"That's right. Do you know what day it is?"

"I think its Monday, but I'm not positive."

"You're right again. How are you feeling Bella, any pain?" He came over to my bed and began checking my pupils with a small flash light.

"My body feels pretty stiff, but no pain really." I said squinting at the light.

"Well that is to be expected. Anything else?"

"She asked for Edward again." Emily smirked. Dr. Brady also smiled.

"Again?" I asked confused and somewhat embarrassed.

"Yeah darling, you said Edward's name quite a bit over the past day. We have all being trying to figure out which of the three guys out there was Edward."

"Ugh!" I whispered as I put my arms over my eyes to hide my embarrassment.

"Don't worry darling, from the way he has been pacing around in the waiting room, I would say he has wanted to see you as badly as you have wanted him." She laughed, pulling my arm back down from my face.

"Really?" I asked with hope in my voice.

"Really, really!" she laughed. "I'm going to go check on the other patients. Can I get you anything Bella?"

"A Coke would be great."

"I don't think so" Dr. Brady interjected not even looking up from my chart. I had almost forgotten he was in the room.

"Water?" Emily asked.

"Yes please." I said

Dr Brady stayed and asked me additional questions for about twenty minutes. He told me he was going to go and tell my family the good news and let them know they would be able to come back to see me in a few hours.

After he left I laid there thinking about how happy I would be to see Edward in a few hours. I just hoped the he would be as happy to see me. I worried again about what had transpired between him and my dad. I really hoped Dad had not frightened him off. I just want to get the chance to see if what the nurse had said was true, if what Alice said in the bathroom yesterday was true.

I knew my parents would be the first to come in but I hoped they wouldn't stay long. _Does that make me_ _a bad daughter?_

I loved them, missed them and wanted to see them, but knowing the third degree that was coming from my dad I kind of dreaded seeing them. Plus I wanted to see Edward. We had spent so much time together the past few days and I missed him. I missed seeing his beautiful face, hearing his silky voice and feeling the touch of his hand. This feeling of bliss washed over me as I thought of Edward and I eventually fell back asleep waiting to see my beautiful Edward's smiling face.

"She's sleeping Renee, we should go." I heard my dad's voice in my dreams. _Was it a dream?_

"Then sit there quietly Charlie and wait until she wakes up. I'm not leaving my daughter until I get to see her big brown eyes and hear her voice."

"But how can you just stare at her like that, it's just so hard to see what he did to her."

"I know it is baby, but you have to be strong for her, let her know it's ok." This definitely isn't a dream.

"Daddy" I said, my voice raspy from sleep.

"Oh thank you God!" he sighed "Isabella baby… thank God." It wasn't like him to show that kind of emotion. He grabbed my hand and leaned down and kissed my forehead. My eyes were open now and I could see the haggard look on his face.

"Where's mom?"

"I'm right here baby." I looked over to my left as she took my other hand and leaned down to kiss my forehead as well. She looked very tired and her eyes were puffy and dark, I assumed from crying.

"Are you ok sweetie, are you in pain, do you need anything?" my mother gushed.

"I'm ok mom, I promise." I chuckled then paused, my tone becoming serious. "I'm sorry I didn't let you guys know about the attack. I hate that you had to find out this way." I felt my dad's grip tighten around my hand, but he would not look at me. Tears started to wail up in my mom's eyes.

"Oh Bella, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. So sorry for whatever reason you thought you couldn't tell us. But you could have, should have, you know that right?"

"I know, mom." I looked over at my dad again, but he still would not look at me.

"Daddy?" he turned his face back to mine and I could tell that he was really looking at the bruises that I was sure were still there, but hoped had lessened some. For the first time in my life I saw such vulnerability in my dad's face that it broke my heart. I understood for the first time that he knew he could not protect me from everything, no matter how hard he tried and it damn near broke him.

"My baby Bella, I'm not going to lie and tell you I'm not mad you didn't tell us as soon as it happened, but I'm just so thankful that you are ok that I'm not going to talk it about it right now. For now I just want to be with you and know that you are ok." He leaned forward and took our hands and moved them up to his face, the side with my hand touching his face.

"I'm so sorry Daddy." My voice broke as the tears started to fall. It killed me to know he was so upset.

"No baby, no tears, no apologies, not now." He smiled and wiped my tears from my face with his free hand.

"So we got to meet Edward." My mother said to help lighten the mood. I looked over to see a beaming smile on her face.

"Yeah?" I smiled, beaming myself I'm sure.

"I can see what you mean about him." She winked at me. We had had many conversations about Edward, about how great I thought he was and about how much I liked him. This girlie exchange was too much for my dad and he groaned.

"Charlie!" my mother said to him sternly.

"What?" he said trying to pretend he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Is he here still?" I asked hoping the answer was yes.

"Of course he is sweetie. So are Alice, Em, Jasper and Rose."

"But aren't they missing class. Are they all ok?" I asked worried about all of them.

"Sweetie, when are you going to stop worrying so much about other people? Yes they are all ok especially now. It was hard, for all of us. We love you so much and just want you to be ok and now that we know you are, we are all ok too."

We sat there a while just talking about nothing really. Both of my parents were on opposite sides of my bed, both still holding my hands. I was proud of my dad for not yelling at me and for not taking me out of the hospital and moving me back home. I knew there was no way we were going to avoid that conversation, but the fact he was waiting gave me a ray of hope that he would remain rational about this.

"Well sweetie, they are only letting us in two at a time for now, so we are going to head back out to let the parade of people dying to see you begin. But don't let them tire you out. If you need a break, take it, I know they will all understand." My mom said.

"Yes ma'am." I smiled at her, happy at the idea of seeing Edward. I really hoped that he would be the next one in. But my hope was soon dashed as I realized how badly I must look. I hadn't had a shower since Friday night and I could only imagine the mess that was my hair.

The look on my face must have given my away. "Bella sweetie, you are beautiful. Don't worry about not being presentable." My dad said. I couldn't believe he could read me like that. I just smiled at him shaking my head.

I raised the bed more so that I was sitting up and fluffed up the pillows behind to better prop myself up.

I sat there waiting, praying really that it would be Edward's face that I saw next, but the first face I saw was Alice's who was trying to light up the entire hospital with the wattage coming off the smile on her face. She rushed over to me and pulled me into a huge hug. I had to admit to myself that I was disappointed. While I love my best friend dearly, I really wanted to see Edward.

I did my best to hide my disappointment but Alice must have felt it in my body because she leaned in and whispered in my ear."Don't worry my beauty he's right behind me." With those words my eyes looked up and sure enough Edward was coming through the door, a huge smile on his face.

"Hey there sweetie!" He grinned as he came over and kissed my forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Doing much better now thank you!" I said wondering if he would get my double meaning and know that I was happy to see him.

"You know for someone who doesn't like attention, you seem to have gone out of your way to get some." Alice chirped.

"Alice!" Edward growled at her. I could tell he thought she was being serious. She looked away from us, towards the window.

"It's OK Edward that is just her way of dealing with it." I said trying to calm him down

"What?" he asked surprised.

"For all of her energy and joy, Alice doesn't do well with sadness. I can only imagine that this has been all so overwhelming for her so to hide her pain, she sometimes says inappropriate things to try and get a laugh, to bring back joy and happiness. I'm used to it, but I guess for someone who isn't her other half that would seem cold hearted."

Alice got up and walked out of the room trying to hide her tears.

"Is she ok?" Edward asked with a concerned look on his face.

"She will be, that's just my Alice. This has been very hard on her, I can tell. She missed me"

"But Bella, this has been harder on you."

"You don't know her like I do; she's not being selfish I promise. Alice is just such a chipper person she doesn't dwell on the bad things in life. In the time span of three days she has been exposed to more than her share of bad things and the fact it is happening to me, makes it a hundred times worse. As weird as it sounds, Alice would rather this happen to her then me. She would handle it better if it was her."

"I think we would all gladly change places with you in a heartbeat." He said without hesitation.

"Edward come sit with me please." He climbed up onto the edge of the bed and I held out my hand for him to take which he gladly did.

"Are you ok?" I asked him

"I swear you could qualify for sainthood."

"What is that suppose to mean?" I couldn't tell if he was being sincere or an ass.

"Bella, why are you worried about me?"

"Because I care a great deal about you Edward. All of the attention has been focused on me, but I know that this affects both of us. I just want to make sure you are ok. I kind of need you around, you know that whole pillar of strength thing and all, so I want to make sure you are ok."

An amazing smile grew across his face, a smile that reached up to meet both of his ears.

"I have never met anyone like you before Bella. You make me smile, make my heart smile."

"That may be the sweetest thing I have ever heard in my life Edward." I knew my face had to be as bright as the lights in this room. He just chuckled and smiled, a little bit of a blush creeping across his face as well.

We sat there for a few minutes when a look of shame crossed Edward's face.

"Bella, I'm so sorry I had Alice call your parents. I know you didn't want them to know, but given the circumstances I could not in good conscience not contact them. I went against your wishes and I'm just so…"

"Edward" I interrupted him. "Don't apologize. You did the right thing. Thank you for not listening to me. I was wrong for not telling them. You didn't go against my wishes; you were once again looking out for me. You know you talk about me always thinking about others, but Edward, you always seem to be thinking about me, looking out for me. There really isn't a difference."

"Bella there is a huge difference between the two of us; you worry about everyone else and not yourself. I worry about you because I know you are not thinking about yourself."

He looked like he was about to cry, trying to force me to see myself as better than him. I knew I was trying to do the same thing to him and it suddenly seemed so silly to me, I couldn't help but laugh.

He looked up at me with shock and little bit of amazement. "What?" he asked warily.

"Listen to us Edward" I said through my laughter. "We are arguing about who is the better person, but we are arguing that the other is the better person. We sound kind of silly. Let's just say we are both good people."

He looked at me for a moment and then the realization that I had crossed his face and he started laughing too.

"We do sound kind of silly don't we?" he said.

Our laughter was ringing down the hallway. Emily walked into the room and looked at us, putting her finger to her lips.

We had just been busted, like silly school girls. Emily smiled and winked at me as she turned around and went back to her rounds.

"I guess this isn't the appropriate place for silly laughter is it?" I asked feeling guilty.

"Actually, I think this is the very best place for silly laughter." Edward said thoughtfully.

"Was my dad mad at you?" Our laughter suddenly stopped.

"He was not happy, but it wasn't just with me, it was with everyone. He was just worried about you Bella. He loves you very much and you are so a daddy's girl, that is not hard to miss. Your mom was great though, she calmed him down, made him behave and well…"

"Everything is ok now between you two?"

"Well I don't think he is going to take me fishing anytime soon, but we seem to have a mutual understanding of each other now."

"It's a start right?" I said trying to help him see that is just my dad.

"Right" he answered matter of factly. "Was he mad at you? Is he going to take you…out of school now?" His hesitancy with those words gave me hope that he did not want me to leave.

"He said he was not happy about it, but that he wasn't going to talk about it then. He just wanted to spend time with me at that moment. I take that as a good sign that at least for that moment he was being rational."

Edward gave out a little sigh and seemed to be relieved. He looked down at his watch and then back at me with a sad look on his face.

"I should go, give the others a chance to come back and see you."

"Will you come back again?" I asked suddenly sad at the thought of him leaving me.

"You betcha!" He grinned that amazing grin!

Alice walked back into the room as Edward was about to leave.

"Edward, I'm very sorry that my words upset you, I never meant to. I was just…"

"No Alice, I'm the one who is sorry. I should have known you would never do or say anything mean to Bella. I over reacted, that's all." He put his hand on her shoulder in a loving way. She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

"All's well now that our Bella is well!" she cooed at him.

Their embrace ended and he came over to me and kissed my cheek. It was such an amazing feeling, just like before when he kissed the cut on my face.

"I'll see you later ok!" he said and he walked to the door, pausing for a moment before he left. He turned back towards me and grinned.

"By the way Swan, you are the better of the two of us!" He turned and bounced out of the room before I could protest!

"What was that all about?" Alice said as she came and sat back on the bed with me.

"Just us being silly" I chuckled shaking my head.

"Bella, I never meant to upset either of you, you know that right?"

"Sweetie, of course I know that, and Edward does to. It's alright, don't worry about it because when you do you get this ugly little wrinkle right there between your brows and well no one wants to see that." I said pointing to the place on her head between her eyebrows.

"Bella!" she whined. I couldn't help but laugh. She sat there for a moment glaring at me when her anger suddenly disappeared and a look of pain took over.

"Bella, I have never been so scared in all of my life. I…can't lose you…it would…it would just kill me."

"I know Alice" I pulled her in to me and she lay down beside me in the bed. "Darling I am not going anywhere. You are not going to lose me. We are going to grow old together remember? Our weddings will be the same, our kids will carry on our bonds and we will live next door to one another until we are so old we can hardly walk." Alice had told me this was going to be our lives together since we were little girls.

"And now I know who our husbands are going to be, I've seen it!" she said proudly.

"Who?" I asked figuring she would mention someone like Orlando Bloom or Clive Owen.

"Edward and Jasper of course." She said looking at me like I was silly for not knowing that.

"Alice!" I groaned!

"Alice, get off of her. How am I possibly going to give her a hug with you laying all over her?" Emmett's booming voice called out as he stood in the doorway, taking up the entire space.

"I'm not going anywhere Em." Alice said her grip getting tighter around my waist.

"Don't' say I didn't warn you!" Emmett walked over to the bed and swooped both of us up into a massive hug. Alice was between the two of us and I knew she had to be smothered.

"Em…I…can't…breathe!" She said trying to squirm her way out of the hug.

"You were warned." He said as he tightened up his grip.

"Emmett McCarty, let her go right now!" I said trying to sound as much like our mothers as I could. I felt his grip pull away and Alice overly exaggerated gasping for air.

"Only because you asked little one." Emmett grinned at me. "How you feeling Bella Luna?"

"Emmett you haven't called me that in years!" After watching the movie Moonstruck when we were younger, Emmett took to calling me Bella Luna because of a line in the movie.

"Yeah well feeling a little nostalgic these days." He said quietly.

"Em." I said to him while holding out my hand. He walked over to the other side of the bed, took my hand and leaned in to me, our foreheads resting on each other. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Just love me" he said with a grin.

"Well that goes without saying!"

"You two are making me sick!" Alice said breaking our moment.

"Jealous much?" Emmett remarked as he broke our connection and sat on the bed.

"Of course I am. She's mine! And now that there is a third person in the mix, I have less of her so I am just going to have to take some of yours!"

I looked at her very confused and noticed the ear to ear grins both of them had on their faces.

"I'm willing to share if you are!" Emmett said still grinning. Alice shook her head yes, that mega watt smile threatening to blind us all.

"What are you two talking about?" Could they mean Edward? Oh how I hoped they meant Edward.

"You'll see!" They both said at the same time. I knew I wasn't going to get anything further out of them. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

We sat there a little longer and talked neither one of them willing to elaborate further on Alice's comment. They left after a while and Jasper and Rose came back next. It really meant a lot to me that they came back to see me. It felt like my family was growing like crazy and it meant the world to me. Something good had come out of this hell after all.

Morning visiting hours were over and I was left to myself again for a few hours. I laid back in the bed waiting for the next round of visits and fell asleep. Thoughts of Edward running through my mind.

The rest of the day was like that, rounds of one or two visitors at a time during visiting hours and my falling asleep in between. By the end of the day I was all talked out, but oh so very, very happy.

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A/N: Thoughts, comments and questions are always welcomed!


	12. Chapter 12

**SM owns all things Twilight**

**Patti Griffin owns _When It Don't Come Easy_**

Thanks for the love

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**Chapter Twelve**

"_Damn that is better than I thought baby!"_

_No God, please no!_

_His hands were on my breasts, his mouth whispering in my ear. He sat up, still straddling me, his hands moving down to his pants, trying to unbuckle them while holding me down. He was talking but there was no face, no face to look at, there was nothing there but a blank, shadowy mass. _

_I was scared to death. There was nothing I could do, this faceless prick was trying to shatter my world and there was nothing I could do. My body was dead weight. _

"_NO!" I screamed. I had my voice. I could use my voice!_

"NO!"

I bolted up in bed trying to gather my wits about me. I was still in the hospital, in a private room now and luckily leaving here today. I looked around and saw all the flowers, balloons and cards people had brought me during visits. My very large "Emmett" bear as he called it was sitting in the chair, looking as smug as Em ever had.

"Another bad dream dear?" Said the voice coming in the door.

"Yes." I said trying to clear it out of my head. The voice belonged to Leah, my night time nurse now that I was in a private room. Emily still came to see me on her breaks as did Dr. Turner the first doctor I saw when I came to the hospital a week ago. It was Friday and I was finally getting to go back to my life on campus.

"I could hear your screams down the hall and thought that might be the case. Is the therapist not helping?"

"Hard to tell at night, the dreams keep coming." I said in frustration.

The dreams started my second night in ICU when I was finally conscious and aware. That night I woke up screaming from my dreams, just like tonight, just like every night since this happened, every night with the exception of when I slept in Edward's arms.

Dr. Brady suggested I speak to the hospital psychologist. I had seen her several times over the past few days and arrangements had been made for me to speak to a counselor at school as well. It helped a little to talk to someone, but the nightmares were not going away. If anything they seemed to get worse. With each one he seemed to get further then he did before but I never could see his face. It was always a fuzzy mass or mask like something out of a horror movie. I couldn't figure out yet which was worse, what he was doing to me or the fact that there was no face on him at all.

Leah had walked over to me and was holding my hand, and wiping the sweat off of my forehead. "It will get better Bella. These things take time. No one but you expects your recovery to be an Olympic time trail. Your body is healing quickly which is great, but your mind is going to take a bit longer."

Leah's words were comforting, but not sticking. She was right; I just wanted everything to go back to normal. Or at the very least, for it to be like it was when I was with my family, when I was with Edward.

There had been a steady stream of visitors in my room since I woke up, even more so once they moved me into a regular private room.

Edward and Alice had coordinated with my professors to get my work for the week and brought it to me so I could keep up. We have had little study sessions where they sit in the room and do their work with me. Mom and Dad were here during the day when the others were in class and then they would join us when they got out of class.

Angela, Ben, Mike, Tyler and Eric all came by to see me as well as a few others from some of my classes. For everyone that came by, no one mentioned the attack, which helped. It was nice to have my family and friends around me and it helped to keep my mind off of things.

Most of the bruises were gone now and all of my stitches were out. Luckily there wasn't a scar from the cut on my face. I'm not a vain person, but I didn't want a reminder every time I looked in the mirror. My neck and leg were not so lucky. The one on my neck was not as bad as the one on my leg. My neck would eventually lessen over time they told me, the one on my leg was with me for life.

During the day everything was really great, almost as if nothing had happened. But at night, when I was by myself the dreams were always there to remind me.

I wished things could be like they were right after the attack, when I had Edward there, holding me in his arms, keeping me safe. When I was in his arms sleeping, I didn't have dreams, I didn't worry, I was just at peace. I missed that.

And when he wasn't here, I missed him terribly.

Fortunately he had been here a great deal. Every day, for the better part of the day. He would stop by in the morning before going to class and then he would come back as soon as he was out of class and he stayed until visiting hours were over.

Sometimes we would talk for hours about movies, music, what we wanted to do with our lives, our families and about how things were for us growing up. Other times we didn't talk at all. We would just sit there watching TV, doing class work or listening to music. Sometimes I would sleep just knowing he was in the room.

And somehow or another we always managed to go back to our disagreement about who was a better person.

Even though my room was always full of people, it really seemed at times like it was just the two of us. We were getting closer day by day. He even told me he wanted me to meet his parents who were coming up the next day for parents' weekend. My parents were staying through the game on Saturday but then they had to go back to Forks. Dad had to get back to work.

But I still had no clue where things stood between us. Sometimes I thought we were moving forward, moving in the direction of a relationship and other times we seemed to move into the type of relationship that Emmett and I had.

I loved Emmett with all of my heart, but I didn't want another big brother. I wanted a relationship and I never really wanted a relationship before. Most of the guys I had gone out with back in high school seemed to be nice at first, but at some point, usually around the third date, they realized that just because I was quiet it didn't mean they could control or boss me around. I learned to develop a pretty good bullshit meter and had little patience for guys when it came to things like trying to impress me with crap or showing me how much I needed them.

But Edward wasn't like any other guy I had ever met. He was smart, funny, giving and caring. The fact I was quiet seemed to suit his quiet nature. When I talked I could tell that he was interested in what I was saying. I never felt like I was being tuned out. The fact that I had an opinion on things didn't seem to bother him at all in fact he seemed to like that I was opinionated. And the real deal breaker for a lot of guys, the fact that not only did I love sports but could match them or beat them on knowledge and stats seemed to give Edward a sense of pride instead of intimidating him.

He was everything I ever wanted in a guy. I wanted a relationship with him. At times I thought he felt the same way and at other times, I just didn't know and it was confusing the hell out of me.

At times like this, 3:30 in the morning, after a horrible dream, when I tried to clear my head with thoughts of Edward, the confusion was even worse.

"I know the answer to this question, but I'm asking it anyway." Leah said.

"No thank you, I don't want anything to take." I answered already knowing the question. It was the same question that had been asked all the other nights.

"It will help you sleep."

"I know, but I hate the way it makes me feel. Besides I'm leaving here in about eight hours and I want a very clear head! I'll just listen to music." After the first night of dreams in ICU they gave me something to help me sleep, but I felt like total crap the next day, like I was hung over and I have refused anything since then.

"Ok dear. I'll come and check on you in about an hour." She patted my arm and turned to leave the room.

I rummaged around the bed until I found the buds that were attached to my iPod, my new favorite play list already on cue from when I had fallen asleep earlier. When they moved me to my new room, Alice and Edward brought a few of my things to help keep my mind sane, including my laptop which had been recovered along with all of the other things in my book bag, a few of my booksand my iPod. Before bringing it to me, Edward downloaded a new playlist for me. A collection of music that he said fit my personality. It was a mix of Ryan Adams, James Morrison, Patty Griffin, Etta James, Stevie Ray Vaughn and various other artists, a mix of blues, soul, folk and rock with a bit of Bach and Beethoven thrown in for good luck. His words not mine. It was perfect. It helped to soothe me, which helped me to sleep. Once again Edward knew what I needed, like he had on so many other occasions. I put my buds in and hit play.

_If you break down _

_I'll drive out and find you_

_If you forget my love,_

_I'll try to remind you_

_I'll stay by you_

_When it don't come easy_

The music washing over me, I drifted off to sleep with thoughts of Edward.

I awoke to sunlight coming in the window, the smell of fresh baked bread and Edward's silky voice.

"Good morning Bella Luna." Edward had taken to calling me Em's once forgotten pet name.

"Good morning." I cooed, delighted at waking up to the sound of his voice.

"Dreams?"

"A few."

"Music?"

"Helped greatly."

This had become our opening ritual for the past few mornings. Edward was aware of the dreams and the fact they were hindering my sleep. He worried about the stress of not sleeping and what that would do to my body. My blood tests showed no signs of Sepsis and my white blood cell count was back to normal, but he still worried.

"What goodies did you bring me this morning?" I asked trying to change the subject so he wouldn't worry.

"Well my dear, for your culinary pleasure this morning, we have fresh baked croissants, sea salt butter, plum preserves, fresh fruit and fresh squeezed orange juice." He was flashing that grin that I loved so much while he took the goodies out of the bag and laid them on the tray before rolling it over to me.

"What time are they springing you today?"

"Mom and dad are going to be here around 10:00 and I should be out of here by about 11:30." I said very excited. I could not wait to get out of here. I hated hospitals; I had ever since spending six weeks in an ICU waiting room before my grandmother died. Hospitals had this smell that hit me as soon as I walked in the door, a smell that reminded me of death. Alice knew how much I hated that smell and she made sure I had plenty of flowers in the room to help mask it.

"What are your plans for after you get out?"

"We are supposed to go eat lunch, where I'm sure I will be lectured by dad again. And then mom and I will try our best to keep him from going by a gun shop to pick out a small caliber handgun for me to keep in my purse. Then we'll head back to the dorm."

Dad had given me a lecture about my safety every time he saw me since that first visit. I wasn't joking about the gun shop either. I overhead him asking Detectives Uley and Black about getting me a gun permit so I could carry a concealed handgun. My mother also overheard the conversation and she was not at all happy about it.

"Sounds like you have a full afternoon." Edward chuckled. He also knew that my dad was serious about the gun.

He sat down on the bed in front of me and we shared our breakfast picnic in silence. This too had been our routine since they moved me to a private room. While it was only three days, it felt like something we had been doing all of our lives. We were at ease with one another, not like an old married couple ease, but a peaceful, soul mate ease. An ease that enhanced my confusion a hundred percent.

"Do you guys have plans for this evening?" Edward asked.

"Well I don't know that we thought about it." I said knowing my parents and I had not discussed anything past lunch and getting me back to the dorm.

"As you know, mom and dad's flight gets in about 2:00 and they want to go eat dinner tonight before things get too crazy with the weekends activities. I would love you to meet them and I know my mom will just love you, so if you feel up to it, you and your parents of course, are welcome to eat dinner with us."

"Are you sure Edward?" I asked hoping he would say yes. "I know you haven't seen them in a while and I thought you might want some alone time with them."

"Of course I'm sure. We will have alone time together when I pick them up at the airport and before dinner." He smiled, thank goodness for that, but then his face fell. "I need to tell you something though before you say yes or no. My parents know about the attack, about everything. I needed to talk to somebody about everything that was going on, somebody who was not entrenched in all of this and so I called my dad Sunday morning before I found you." A look of pain swept over his face at the memory of that morning. I put my hand over his to comfort him. He looked up at me and smiled before starting again.

"Anyway, my dad called me the next day to check on me and when I didn't answer or return his calls he became very concerned. When I finally called him back and explained things he was worried about you and well my mother overheard my dad's end of the conversation and so they both know everything and now my mother is just dying to meet you. I have to warn you though she has the same energy and excitement that Alice does. I should have told you before now and I'm sorry that I didn't." He sped through his words and I had to chuckle to myself at his nervousness.

"I would love to have dinner with you and your parents tonight Edward. I'll ask my parents too." I smiled at him and hoped he would see that it was ok.

But then his words sunk in, he needed someone to talk to. Of course he needed someone to talk to, this had been so stressful on him and he insisted on being the pillar of strength all the time. It broke my heart to think of him being upset. I felt like I was going to cry.

"Isabella Swan, stop that right now."

I looked up at him, my tears choked by the surprise of his statement. "Stop what?"

"Worrying about me. I can see it on your face. This is why I didn't say anything to you at first. I'm fine."

"Edward, I'm so sorry…"

"I'm not!" he said interrupting me. "I'm not sorry that I was the one who found you and I am not at all sorry that I was able to be there for you. I hate that this happened to you more than anything else in the world but I will never ever regret this." He pointed back and forth to the two of us. I so wanted to ask him just what this was.

"Well it's official; you are the better of the two of us." He chuckled trying to lighten the mood.

"Wait, what about this breakfast and the music you down loaded for me? I think that puts you back in the lead." He just shook his head at me.

"So do you want to text me and let me know what Charlie and Renee say and then we can get it all sorted out?" he said changing the subject quickly.

I shook my head yes as I took a sip of my juice. We fell back into our lovely ease.

He stayed until 9:30 when he had to leave to get to his one class for the day. We talked about nothing really, but it felt like one of those life changing conversations. All of our conversations did really, no matter how insignificant the content was.

"We haven't really had a chance to talk about Edward have we?" my mother asked. She was right; we hadn't really been alone since I woke up. Dad was taking care of the discharge paper work and taking all of my flowers and things to the car. He complained the whole way about "Emmett" bear, even suggesting we donate it to the children's hospital. While it was a great idea, I could not part with him.

"What do you mean?" I asked trying to sound clueless.

"Edward cares a great deal for you Bella, you know that don't you?"

"I think sometimes yes but then others I'm not so sure."

"What's not to be sure about?"

"Everything!" I huffed in frustration.

"Bella, sweetie you may not see it and I think I know why, but I do and so does everyone else. He cares a great deal for you, and more than just a friend. He's good for you Bella and you're good for him."

"I want to believe that, I really do, but I just don't know."

"Well let me tell you what I know. Edward is a very intelligent, respectable young man who took full responsibility for us not being called after the attack even though he didn't need to. He is full of compassion for those around him and above all else for you. I have seen his emotions run the full gamut from pain to worry to joy and elation over you. His eyes light up when he sees you and his voice is filled with love when he speaks about you. And you do the same when it comes to him. You two are so much alike it isn't even funny. It's like watching a movie or reading a book. Or better yet it is like watching you and Alice all of these years. He is your Alice, but this time your soul mate is your actual romantic soul mate."

"Mom…" was all I could manage to get out. I was suddenly lost in the hope that her words were true, lost in the thought of Edward and I being soul mates, lost in the idea of forever with him.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you two need to rush into marriage or anything like that, in fact I would greatly prefer that you finish school and find you own voice in this world, but it's not to say that you cannot do all of those things with Edward by your side. And it will be a few years before I am ready to be a grandmother. Although let's face it your children will be beautiful, just look at their parents." She winked at me with the last comment.

"Mom!" I said this time in mock disgust!

"Why is it you think I don't see what everyone else sees?" I asked her thinking back to her comment a moment ago.

"You don't see yourself as being good enough for him. I know you better then you think I do. I know that you don't see what everyone else does, that you don't see the real you, the you that makes people want to be around you. You are this amazingly beautiful, caring, compassionate creature that deserves the sun and the moon, but you refuse to see that about yourself, you always have."

"Mom I think you may be a little biased to make comments like that."

"No I'm not, and besides you can ask anyone else and they will tell you the same thing. Do you think it is normal for the doctors and nurses who cared for you in other parts of this hospital to stay in touch with their patients once they have left them? And yet is there a day that you have been here that you haven't seen Dr. Turner or Emily at least once?"

"No."

"And what about Sam and Jake?" Both of the detectives had insisted that we call them by their first names.

"That's just because of dad." I stated.

"It's because of you. They could follow up with your dad over the phone or have him come down to the station, but they don't, they come here to check on you. If I had one wish it would be that you could see yourself through someone else eyes. Particularly through Edwards' eyes, because darling I think the awe you would feel would overwhelm you!"

I couldn't speak. My mother's words had literally left me speechless. I just sat there looking up at her as she beamed with pride talking about me the way she had, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

"What's wrong?" my dad's suspicious voice called out from the doorway. Dr. Brady was close behind him.

"Nothing's wrong dear, just girl talk." My mom said wiping her eyes and smiling at my dad.

"Well Bella, dear it looks like this is it for you. We'll miss you around here. Take care of yourself." Dr, Brady came over and hugged me goodbye. I could see the "_I told you so"_ look on my mother's face.

"Thank you Dr. Brady, for everything." I whispered in his ear. He winked then turned to shake hands with dad and get a hug from mom, both of whom thanked him as well.

We sat there quietly for a few moments waiting on them to bring a wheel chair to take me out of the hospital when I remembered Edward's invitation.

"Edward has invited all of us to dinner with his parents tonight." I said like it wasn't a big deal.

The _"I told you so"_ look on my mother's face grew even bigger.

"I don't know Bella that may be too much on you…"

"Of course we would love to have dinner with them tonight." My mother interrupted my dad's reply and then gave him a look that told him not to say another word. I almost felt sorry for him knowing that look all too well growing up.

"Fine!" he gruffed

I hated the idea of being wheeled out of the hospital but knew there was no choice in the matter. So I decided to text Edward the answer to dinner to take my mind off of things.

_Finally busting out of this joint. Glorious sunshine engulfing me as I go back to the real world. Dinner is a go! Let us know when and where. B_

Dad's car was waiting outside for us when we reached the entrance and I climbed into the back seat with my "Emmett" bear.

_I'm suddenly very jealous of the sunshine. We'll meet you guys in the lobby of the dorm 7. E_

Holy shit what did he mean jealous of the sunshine?

Lunch with mom and dad was very pleasant and it felt so good to be back in a normal setting again. And dad was great, he only lectured me a little and he didn't even look in the direction of the pawn shop we passed on the way back to the dorm.

I was glad to see that there was no sign of a crime scene when we pulled up to the dorm's entrance. I couldn't see the path from where dad parked to unload us which I was grateful for. I knew at some point I was going to have to deal with seeing the pathway, but I just wasn't ready for it yet. I was too happy right now, and I wanted to stay that way.

Emmett and Alice were waiting for us outside of the dorm to greet me and help bring everything in.

"Bella Luna" they both called out to me. Oh God he had Alice calling me that now too! Both of them rushed over to me to give me a hug, Alice getting there first. Emmett followed shortly after, taking both of us in his arms and giving us a big Emmett hug; once again poor Alice was crushed.

"Don't overdo it Emmett!" my dad called out to him sternly but with a grin on his face.

"Yes sir." Emmett said as he let us both go. He sounded just like a little boy.

Emmett stayed to help dad unload the car while mom, Alice and I went on ahead to the room. There was a boy and girl that I didn't know in the elevator and they stared at me the whole time. I knew they couldn't see either the scar on my neck or leg, but I couldn't help but think they knew. I suddenly felt like the car accident that you know you shouldn't gawk at, but just cannot look away from. I felt my happiness start to crumble as realization set in.

Others were going to know what happened to me. Some would stare, some would avoid me and others would treat me with kid gloves. I didn't want any of those things. I just wanted everything to be like it was before.

Alice must have sensed my change in mood. She put her arm around me, kissed me on the cheek and smiled.

It felt really great to be back in my room and I didn't even begrudge the _Welcome Home Bella_ banner that greeted me when I walked into the room.

I really wanted to take a shower to get the smell of the hospital off of me. Even though I had taken showers while there, that familiar smell was always there and I just wanted it gone. I wanted the warm smell of vanilla from my bath wash.

Mom and dad stayed for a bit before going back to their hotel room to freshen up and change for dinner tonight. They were going to meet me down stairs along with Edward and his parents at 7:00.

Alice just about exploded when she found out about dinner. She insisted on a full pampering make over which I tried to refuse, but there was no refusing Alice. I did manage to win the argument over what I would wear. She of course wanted me in a sexy dress, but I refused telling her in no way did I want to wear something that would show off my scars. Even though Edward's parents knew everything, I didn't think the proof needed to be on display.

We settled on a form fitting sapphire blue turtle neck and a cream colored long skirt. I also refused the high heels she picked out, opting for ballet flats instead.

Luckily she didn't over do the makeup or hair, saying she would save those for another date when the parents were not involved. I just rolled my eyes at her at the word date.

I was standing there looking at myself in the mirror grateful for Alice when my phone beeped.

_We are all here waiting to see your beautiful face coming off the elevator. E _

_On my way. B _I responded and headed towards the elevator.

I was so nervous on the way down. Nervous about our parents getting along. Nervous about what his parents would think of me, nervous about whether or not this really was a date.

All of my nerves were calmed though when the elevator doors opened and I saw them all standing in the lobby. My mom was talking to a petite woman who was elegantly beautiful. She had long red hair and Edward's green eyes. She and mom were in an animated conversation about Lord only knows what, but they looked like old friends. Dad, Edward and a very handsome blonde haired man were standing to together talking and laughing.

The sound of the doors opening caught Edward's attention and he quickly turned walking towards me, but then he stopped and just stood there staring at me. I too stopped in my tracks, my nervous kicking back into overdrive. I suddenly worried about how I looked and how unbelievable handsome Edward looked in his dark suit and tie. He truly looked like he came off a runway. There was no way in hell I was good enough to be seen out in public with him.

He was still there staring at me when that devilish grin slowly worked its way up his face and he walked over to where I stood frozen.

"I believe I owe you an apology." He said, his grin growing ever wider as he took my hand and kissed the back of it like he was a southern gentleman.

"For what?" I was able to squeak out.

"My text said we were waiting to see your beautiful face. I'm sorry but beautiful is not a good enough word for how you look tonight. You are stunning Bella Luna!" He leaned in and kissed my blushing cheek my hand still in his, leading me towards our waiting parents.

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A/N: Reviews, comments and questions are always welcomed.


	13. Chapter 13

**SM owns all things Twilight.**

Thank you all so much for the love I have been giving for this story.

This is the longest chapter so far.

Hope you all enjoy

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**Chapter Thirteen**

"Bella Swan, I would like you to meet my parents, Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Mom, Dad this is Bella." Edward said as he pointed to his parents and then back to me.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Bella." Carlisle said extending his hand to me. After we shook hands, Esme extended hers and when our hands connected she leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

"A definite pleasure. You look very lovely tonight dear." She smiled as our hands released.

"Thank you ma'am. It's very nice to meet you both; Edward speaks of you both a great deal."

"As he does of you too." Esme smiled with the words as she looked back and forth between Edward and me. He was still holding my other hand and it felt like it should always be that way.

"Charlie, if you like, you can follow us to the restaurant." Edward said as we headed out the door to the cars. He held my hand the entire way to dad's car, opening the back door for me and closing it as he walked back to his own car. I hated the sudden loneliness of him not holding my hand.

"Well I really like his parents. It's no wonder he is such a good man. He was raised by very good people." Mom said. She chatted on as we followed Edward's car not knowing where we were going to dinner as neither Edward nor his parents had mentioned anything.

I noticed my dad kept looking at me in the rear view mirror, with such a sad look on his face.

"Daddy." I said hoping to see him smile again. "What's wrong?"

"Just thinking."

"About what darling?" my mother joined the conversation.

"About losing my little girl." He said with pain in his voice.

"Charlie she's fine now, there is no need to dwell on what could have been when she is better and here with us, healthy and radiant." Mom said trying to draw dad out of his sadness.

"That's not what I mean Renee. She's growing up, is grown up really. I always knew there would be a time when some guy would come in and take away my little girl, but I hoped it would be when she was in her thirties or better yet forties and I would be old and gray and unable to think about her not being my little girl anymore. I just didn't expect it at eighteen."

I leaned forward in my seat and kissed my dad's cheek. "Daddy, I will always be your little girl. No man will ever take that away from you." I laid my head down on his shoulder and I could feel his body stiffen as he tried to fight back tears.

Mom took his free hand and held it tightly in hers. "At least you know that he is a great man, just like you."

"Yeah…he is… I guess." He whispered very quietly. Had my head not been on his shoulder I wouldn't have heard his response.

I couldn't help but smile at the thought of my dad accepting Edward in my life; even if I wasn't a hundred percent sure of how exactly he fit yet. His calling me stunning was still running around in my head as was the fact he held my hand and walked me to the car. There had to be more to this then just friendship, not even Emmett would do that for me or even Alice.

We remained quiet the rest of the way to the restaurant, the only words coming from dad as Edward pulled up to the valet parking at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

"Well he has good taste in restaurants." Dad said as he pulled up behind him.

Edward was waiting to open my door and take my hand again as dad gave his keys to the valet. Carlisle had walked over to mom's door and opened hers as well. Esme was waiting there for her to get out.

Carlisle walked over to join dad and Esme and mom followed them arm in arm like school girls. As I moved to catch up with them, Edward pulled my hand back for a moment, stopping me in my tracks.

"Bella sweetie is everything ok? You all looked very solemn when you got out." His brow furrowed, concern washing over his face.

I walked back over to him and standing on my tippy toes kissed his cheek. "Everything is just perfect Edward." I whispered to him. The amazing grin that I loved so much slowly worked its way up his face.

My lips were still warm from the feel of his skin as we walked together, hand in hand to meet our parents inside.

We were seated so that Edward was on one side of me and Esme was on the other. Carlisle and Dad talked about sports, fishing and their jobs the entire meal while Mom and Esme exchanged stories of Edward and me as we grew up. Occasional we would join in on their conversations.

"I think they like each other." Edward whispered into my ear. It was like we were parents, bringing together our children for a play date.

"Edward, do you fish?" My dad asked pulling us away from the private joy of our parents getting along.

"No sir, I'm afraid I have never had the patience for fishing despite Dad's best attempts." Edward said turning his attention to dad.

"Humph." He said.

"Charlie not everyone enjoys fishing." Mom said as she joined in their conversation.

I sat there watching them discuss the merits and pitfalls of fishing when exhaustion began to creep in. It was only 9:00 pm but too many sleepless nights and the busyness of the day were starting to wear down on me. I tried my hardest to stifle a yawn, not wanting to ruin the evening for anyone else.

"Bella dear, are you ok?" Esme had pulled her chair closer to mine and looked at me with great concern.

"Just a little tired. Guess the day is catching up with me."

"We can leave if you need to dear; I know they will all understand." She started to say something when I stopped her.

"Please just a little longer Esme. It's so good to see Edward and my parents enjoying themselves."

She smiled at me and patted the hand that I had placed on her arm.

"Just a little longer dear, I don't want you to overdo yourself."

"Yes ma'am." I said. She reminded me so much of mom with her tone.

"What about you love, are you enjoying yourself?" Esme asked with a hint of Edward's grin on her face.

"More then I can say." I beamed.

"It's been awhile since I've seen Edward this happy. It makes my heart smile and I know I have you to thank for that." She whispered into my ear.

I looked at Esme pleasantly surprised by her words, when she grinned and nodded her head towards Edward. I turned my head over to him and saw him look our way. He had paused in his conversation with dad and Carlisle and turned to look at me, smiling he winked before turning back to the others.

I felt my breath catch at his gesture. It was unbelievable sexy. I wanted to lean into him and kiss him. My lips wanting to feel his own connected to them, to see if they felt as wonderful as the skin on his cheek did.

I sat there lost in my thoughts when dad's raised voice brought me back to the table.

"Carlisle I cannot allow you to buy us dinner. It's not that I don't appreciate the offer, but I am more than capable of buying dinner for my family."

Evidently the bill had come and Carlisle was trying to pay the entire bill. Edward and I looked at each other shocked and unsure what we should do or say. Carlisle was about to say something when Esme spoke up.

"Charlie, we would never want to offend you by implying that you couldn't afford to pay the bill for your family. Carlisle and I just wanted to do something nice for you guys because of all that you have been through this week." She spoke with so much love in her voice that dad had no response for her.

"Esme, Carlisle thank you so much for your generosity, it really means a great deal to Charlie and I both. Please forgive him for his pride, sometimes it gets in the way of him accepting someone else's kindness." Mom looked at dad begging him with her eyes to behave.

He let out a deep sigh and looked at Esme with appreciation. "Renee is right; sometimes I let my pride get the best of me. Your gift of a night out means a great deal to both of us, as does the concern that you have shown for all of us especially Bella this evening. I just…well…thank you both." Dad looked at Esme who smiled so warmly and with so much love emanating from her that it made me want to cry. Carlisle patted dad on the back and handed the bill to our waiter who had been standing back watching the exchange with trepidation.

Edward and I looked at each other again and sighed in relief. Our play date was ending on a good note.

"Carlisle, Esme we would be happy to drop you off at your hotel." Dad said looking at Carlisle. I could tell he was hoping Carlisle would at least allow him this. "That way Edward can go ahead and take Bella back to the dorm. I know she has to be exhausted even though she won't admit it." He looked at me with his eyebrows raised as if he was daring me to argue with him.

I shot him a look of irritation even though I had to admit I was glad my evening with Edward was going to last a little bit longer.

As we were waiting for the cars our parents made plans to have breakfast in the morning before meeting us at the dorm to go tailgate before the game. I hoped there would not be a repeat of the bill disagreement.

When the cars came we said our goodbyes and Esme surprised me with a hug and kissed me again on the cheek. Although I really shouldn't have been surprised, it seemed to be her nature.

"I think that went pretty well, how about you?" Edward asked as we drove away from the restaurant. He reached over and took my hand into his and put them both on the center console. He did it without even thinking about it or hesitating, like it was very natural for him to hold my hand.

"It was a great evening. Thank you so much for inviting us. I really like your parents Edward and I can tell mine do too."

"I think the feeling is mutual all around sweetie." He said taking his eyes off the road for a minute to look at me and flash that smile I loved so much. My thoughts went back to Edward's wink earlier and how much I wanted to kiss him.

The buzz of my phone pulled me reluctantly out of my dream moments later.

_Still at dinner with parents. Should be back at the dorm in an hour. A_

Alice and Em's parents were not able to make it in until after 8:00 and they had all gone to a late dinner with Jasper and Rose.

"Everything ok?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, Alice and Em are still at dinner. They should be back in an hour. She was just letting me know."

"We can hang out in my room until they get back." He said with confidence in his voice. He didn't want the evening to end yet either.

"Sounds good to me, but I would love to stop by the room and change clothes."

"No problem, we can head up there first and I'll stay outside while you change."

"Edward you don't have to do that. I'll change quickly and then meet you in your room."

"I know I don't have to Bella, I want to." He said with so much determination in his voice I didn't want to argue with him.

_We are heading back now. Going to hang out in Edward's room for a while. B_

I respond to Alice letting her know where I would be.

_Ooh dinner must have been very good. I expect a full report! A _

I swear I could just picture her jumping up and down for joy!

_That sound you hear are my eyes rolling in my head silly girl! B_

_The boy is already rolling your eyes in your head. Damn! A_

_ALICE!_

I couldn't help but let out a sound of frustration towards her.

"Do I want to know what she has to say?" Edward asked I'm sure assuming the worst.

"Not really." I chuckled.

True to his word, Edward waited outside while I quickly changed into a pair of PJ pants and a tank top. After him seeing similar to this for the past week in the hospital, it didn't faze me in the least to wear them again.

When I opened the door he seemed to be lost in his thoughts with the most amazing smile on his face.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked dying to know what could put that smile on his face.

"About how happy I am."

I turned from him and locked my door, hoping this would hide the sudden glow from the blushing joy I knew was all over my face. I turned back and the grin on his told me I had failed at hiding my joy.

He took my hand and we walked back down to his room. Once we were inside he turned on the TV for me, handed me a bottle of water from the fridge reminding me I needed to stay hydrated and then went into the bathroom to change into more comfortable clothes himself.

I sat there thinking about his words, about how happy he said he was and then I thought back to Esme's comment about knowing she had me to thank for him being happier then she had seen him in a while. I loved the fact that I made him happy, but I couldn't help but think about what happened to make him so unhappy. I knew it had to have something to do with Tanya.

I knew Emmett never liked Tanya, but when they broke up, nothing was ever said. In fact I didn't even know they had broken up until a week ago. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly happened.

I was so deep in thought; I didn't even hear him come out of the bathroom.

"What is going through that mind of yours that has the beautiful face of my Bella Luna cringing like that?" He asked trying to laugh, but I could hear the concern in his question.

"Edward, can I ask you a personal question."

"Sure sweetie, anything." He said sitting down beside me on the couch, taking my hand in his.

"What happened between you and Tanya?"

He looked away for a moment and all the joy on his face from this evening disappeared. I knew I had crossed a line.

"Edward I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked that question. It's just something Esme said to me earlier had me thinking and I was just curious."

He turned back to me trying to smile. "It's ok Bella. I want to tell you, but it just makes me so angry I needed to compose myself."

"Edward you really don't have to…"

"I want to sweetie, I really do." He interrupted me as he sat up and turned so that we were looking at each other face to face. He never let go of my hand.

"Tanya and I dated almost all of our sophomore year and we stayed together over the summer even though we really didn't get to see each other that much. She went home to Tacoma and I stayed here working most of the summer with Emmett. We talked some, e-mailed and managed to spend a weekend or two together. By the end of the summer, it just felt like we had grown apart and I decided that once school started back up, if that distance was still there I was going to end it. No point in staying together if we were going to be unhappy."

"But when school started back, she seemed so happy to see me, like she had really missed me and I thought maybe it was just me so I decided to give things a go. Everything seemed fine for a few weeks, but then something changed in me and I knew I didn't want to be with her anymore. I started to pull away from her, trying to figure out a way to end things without hurting her too badly. I told her we needed to talk, but before I could get anything out, she told me she was pregnant."

My heart stopped for a moment and I could feel his grip tighten in my hands.

"I struggled for a week trying to figure out the right thing to do. I talked to Emmett, my mom, my dad anyone who could give me an opinion. I finally decided that I was going to ask her to move in with me, that we would raise the baby together and one day get married. I was ready to quit school if I had to so I could take care of her and the baby. The idea of being a father this soon, scared the hell out of me, but I was not going to walk away from my responsibility."

"Before I could go to her and tell her my decision, her best friend Jessica came to me and told me the truth. Tanya was pregnant, but the baby wasn't mine. She was much further along then she led me to believe. She hooked up with her ex-boyfriend when she was home over the summer and when she told him she was pregnant he basically told her to piss off and he left town. I guess she figured she could sucker me into taking care of her and the baby and that even though I'm pre-med and a doctor's kid I wouldn't question the timing of the baby's arrival. Jessica hated the person Tanya had become and what she was doing to me so she told me the truth and thank goodness she did."

"I ended things with her quickly saying things to her that I never in my life thought I would ever say to a woman. She dropped out of school and moved back home shortly after that. I haven't heard anything from her or about her since that blow up."

"No wonder Emmett hates her so much." I said finding it hard to believe anyone could ever treat Edward like that. She had to have been just a heartless bitch.

"Yeah I think that sentiment is widely spread when it comes to her."

"Did you love her?" I asked, not really sure I wanted to hear the answer.

"I thought I did, but now I know one hundred percent that I didn't at all."

We sat there for a few minutes, not saying anything at all, but not breaking eye contact either.

"Can I ask you a question?" Edward asked, breaking our silence.

"Of course."

"What did mom say to you that made you think about Tanya?"

"She said you were the happiest she had seen in a long time and I thought maybe your unhappiness had to have something to do with Tanya. She also said that she had me to thank for your new found happiness."

The look of anger that had taken over his face softened and his amazing smile crept back in. "She's right you know. You are to thank for my happiness."

I broke our eye contact as I leaned up on my knees, hugging him tightly with both arms around his neck. As I pulled out of our hug, I kissed his cheek and started to lean back when he held my arm as if to stop me. We sat there staring into each other's eyes, our faces only inches apart. His other hand came up to cup my face, his thumb gliding slowly back and forth across my cheek. I leaned my face into his hand and sighed at the utter joy I was feeling at that moment.

He pulled me closer to him, his lips gently brushing against mine. His lips were so soft and so warm. He pulled back for a moment I guessed to look to see if he had crossed the line, but I couldn't see because my eyes were closed, my mind lost in the euphoria of the moment, a smile holding the kiss on my lips.

My expression must have been enough to convince him it was ok and he leaned back into me, his lips caressing mine once again. I could feel my body melting into his, as the gentleness of his fingertips slid up my arm, over my shoulder, along my neck and to my face so that both of his hands were holding it. My head and face were overcome by the feeling of warmth that slowly moved its way down my whole body. It was like someone had opened me up and poured liquid joy in. As the feeling warmed each crevice of my body, everything became clearer in my mind and I knew. I knew that Edward was the only one I ever wanted to kiss me like this, knew that he was the only one who could ever be able to kiss me like this.

He opened his mouth slightly and I drank in his warm wonderful breath as his took my bottom lip in both of his and delicately suckled on it before pulling away.

"Damn Bella, I have waited a long time to do that." He sighed, his forehead leaning against mine, both of his hands still on my face.

"Damn Edward, I have waited even longer for you to do that." I lightly giggled, leaning my face slightly into the caress of his hand, our foreheads still connected.

He pulled back looking into my eyes, really looking into them and seeing all of the joy that they held. He leaned back into the corner of the couch and pulled me into him so my head lay on his chest. He kissed the top of my head and ran his hand up and down my arm so tenderly.

We sat there quietly, knowing that we didn't need to talk; we didn't need to dwell or over analyze. We just needed to lay there in the bliss of that moment.

It was the most intimate kiss I have ever had in my life. It was sweet and gentle and full of passion. It wasn't overpowered by teenage lust or a domineering tongue as too many of the drive by tonguing guys from my past had. The kind of kisses where they come at you with their mouths open, tongues halfway down your throat before your lips even meet. No this one was so much sweeter than that, so much sweeter than anything I had ever experienced before.

The sound of his heartbeat and the warmth of his touch on my lips quickly lulled me to sleep where I stayed in utter bliss until the next morning.

"Good morning beautiful." I loved waking up to the sound of silk.

"Good morning handsome." I said figuring if he could call me beautiful, I could call him handsome. My response made him giggle.

"How did you sleep?"

"Like a baby" I cooed and snuggled into his chest, not wanting to leave the warmth of him. "You?"

"Same." He said pulling me into him more and kissing the top of my head. We lay there for a few moments when I looked over at the clock and saw it was 8:30 in the morning. Our parents were going to be here at 10:00. I didn't want to leave him, but I knew we needed to get ready. I let out a sigh of disappointment.

"I know, we need to get up and get ready." Edward said. I swear sometimes I thought he could read my mind. "But we'll have more time for this later." He smiled as he leaned in and kissed my cheek.

"I'm going to go take a shower and get ready. I'll meet you back down here in a little bit." I said getting up and grabbing my keys and phone from the table.

"I'll be waiting." He gave me that amazing smile and I swear I could feel my knees giving out on me.

I made my way back up to my room. Alice was running around trying to figure out what she was going to wear for the day.

"About damn time you got back up here. I was just seconds away from busting in there and dragging you back up here for all the details." She rushed over to me and pulled me onto her bed, bouncing up and down the whole time.

"There's really nothing to tell, Alice, we feel asleep while we were waiting for you guys to get back, that's all."

"Bella sweetie, no offense, but you're terrible at lying. We saw the way you two were holding each other on the couch, sleeping. You both had permi-grins plastered on your faces even in your sleep. Something more than just falling asleep happened last night."

"Wait, who is we?" I asked worried her parents had walked in and seen our state of bliss.

"Don't worry, mom and dad had already gone back to their hotel. It was Jazz, Em, Rose and I." I gave a sigh of relief. "You guys looked so happy and peaceful we just left you there."

"How are you parents doing?" I asked hoping I could divert her attention elsewhere. It's not that I didn't want to tell Alice about our kiss, more than anything I wanted to tell her. But for now I wanted to keep it to myself a little bit longer to enjoy the secret of it all.

"Not happening Swan, spill or else?" Ok so much for secrets.

"We kissed."

The noise that came out of her then could only be described glass shattering.

"Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God! Bella I am so happy for you! Tell me all about." There was definitely no way of keeping secrets now.

Alice hung on my every word as I recounted the evening to her. When I got to the part about our kiss I literally thought she was going to explode.

Thankfully she left me alone so I could take a shower in peace and think about how good I felt. It wasn't just the kiss although that was a huge part of it, but it was the great night of sleep I had gotten. I would think that being in the same semi-reclined position for such a long period of time would have left me sore and tired, but it was the best I had slept in over a week. There was just something about sleeping in Edward's arms that made everything better.

When I got back to the room my clothes for the game were already laid out for me. Alice had chosen a pair of dark blue jeans and a dark green button down shirt.

"Alice?"

"What? The green brings out the red in your hair."

"Don't you think I am capable of picking out my own clothes?"

"Not really. You would go for casual and that just won't work anymore now will it?" she smirked.

"Alice…" she put her hand up and I knew that there was no use continuing down this road and besides I really wanted to get back down to see Edward.

I threw my hair back into a ponytail and put on a little makeup before we headed back down to Edward's room.

Everyone was waiting for us when we arrived. Alice and Em's parents had met up with mom, dad, Carlisle and Esme for breakfast and they were all here now. Peter and Charlotte McCarty were the mirror images of their children. Peter was just about an inch taller than Emmett and only a bit smaller. Charlotte was just as tiny and just as beautiful as Alice.

When we walked into the room, she rushed over to me almost tackling me as we embraced. "Bella sweetie, thank God you are ok. I'm so sorry we were not able to get up here to see you until now."

"It's ok Charlotte. It's really good to see you."

Peter made his way over to me and picked me up into an Emmett type hug.

"You gave us all a scare little one, let's not do that again." He said as he put me back down on the ground.

"Yes sir!" I grinned back at him. Emmett was so much like his dad it was unbelievable.

Everyone stood together and talked for a few minutes before we made our way out to Peter and Charlotte's Suburban and Emmett's jeep, knowing it would be easier for all of us to pile into two cars instead of trying to take individual ones.

Edward and I sat in the middle row of seats in Em's jeep holding hands. There was an excitement in the air that I tried to tell myself was for the game, but I knew it was about what they found in Edward's room last night and about us holding hands now. Luckily no one said anything although I did notice Emmett looking in his rearview mirror back at us with the biggest shit eating grin I have ever seen grace that boys face. When he realized I caught him watching us he crinkled his nose and gave me a wink. It was good to know Em was ok with Edward and I being together.

Once we were at the stadium, we made our way over to where the Sig Ep's had their tailgate area set up and settled into the joy of a pre-game party. Tailgate parties were events in and of themselves when it game to football games. The crazy ways people decorated their cars or tents, the sound of music playing, seeing people sitting around discussing the upcoming game, school pride on huge display and of course there was the food. The most amazing mouth watering smells were everywhere that you turned. Tailgate parties were sensory overload, so much going on at once, but there was such excitement to that overload that it couldn't be missed.

As I stood there taking all of the joy in, I leaned my head back onto Edward's chest. He was standing behind me, his hand on my waist.

"Are you ok sweetie?" he asked

"I'm just perfect." I answered honestly.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just that I'm really happy to be here." I said looking up at him.

He leaned down and gently kissed my lips. "I'm really glad you are here too." He said our lips still together.

The muffled sounds of Alice's squeals broke our kiss and when we looked up, our parents and our friends eyes were all on us, watching our intimate moment together.

"About damn time!" Emmett said with that same silly grin on his face.

"Emmett!" several different voices yelled at him at once.

"What?" he answered in typical Emmett style.

Everyone started laughing and I knew I should be embarrassed but at that moment I was so happy I just didn't care who saw us.

As kick off got closer we began cleaning up and putting food away. I was clearing off one of the tables when this sudden sense of dread overcame me and my whole body shuddered.

"Bella honey are you ok? You just shuddered like someone walked over your grave." Jasper said. He had been standing beside me helping clear the table.

"Yeah… I think so…not really sure what that was." I said looking around me trying to figure out what had brought on that feeling. Everything and everyone looked to be ok and nothing was out of place.

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

"I'm positive!" I said trying to convince both of us. But I couldn't shake the feeling of dread and now suddenly a new feeling of being watched.

I shook my head trying to get the feelings to go away and set my mind back on the task of cleaning off the table and helping to get things packed away.

"Ready to go?" Edward asked walking over to us, taking my hand. The feeling of his hand in mine helped to relax me a bit.

"Yes!" I said looking up at Edward smiling and then over to Jasper who was still looking at me concerned. I knew I hadn't been as convincing as I had hoped. But thankfully he didn't say anything to Edward.

The group made its way up to the main gate and over to our seats anxiously waiting for the game to start.

I had to chuckle to myself noticing the way the parents all stayed together and that we all stayed together. It felt kind of like the grown up and kids tables at Christmas.

The opening kick was in the air and everything became a swirl of cheers, whistles and chants. There was nothing like the atmosphere at a college football game. It was the feeling of comradelier and the desire to pummel the competition to the ground all rolled into one.

As much as I was enjoying the moment, the feelings of dread and being watched were in the back of my mind. I tried to block them out, cheering with even more fanatic fervor then I normal did but they were there no matter how loud I cheered.

At half time several of us stepped away to the restroom and to get drinks for the others. I was standing outside of the ladies room waiting on Esme and Alice when Jasper walked over to where I was standing holding a drink tray with far too many drinks on it. He looked like he was about to drop them.

"Hey Jasper would you like some help?" I asked reaching my hand out towards the tray to help take a couple of the drinks for him.

"That would be great, thanks."

I had taken two of the drinks off of the tray when someone brushed up against my back and said excuse me. The feeling of their touch sent a violent shudder through out my body and I dropped the drinks I was holding and then froze. The sense of dread that had hit me earlier was now consuming me and it felt like everything was falling down around me.

Jasper jumped back as I dropped the drinks and looked down to see the mess I made before looking back up at me.

"Bella honey, what the…Bella…BELLA!" I could hear him talking to me, really yelling at me but I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. I'm not even sure I was breathing. I could feel my legs giving out from underneath me and I was sinking down to the ground.

Jasper has tossed the drinks to his side and was trying to hold onto me as I was falling.

"Bella sweetie. Bella listen to me. I need you to hear my voice. Bella focus on my voice."

I tried to focus, tried to see him and let him know I was there, but I had no voice, no thoughts other then fear. I didn't know what happened. As I was standing there I had been bumped by lots of people. It was to be expected when you were in such a crowded area and people were trying to maneuver around. But that particular bump, that particular touch, there was something so frightening about it, something evil.

Esme and Alice walked out of the bathroom and found us on the ground.

"Jasper, what's wrong? Bella? Bella? Bella what's wrong?" There was so much panic in Alice's voice that I could hear the tears falling down her face.

"Jasper what happened?" Esme asked. I could hear fear in her voice as well.

"I think she's having a panic attack. It's to be expected given the trauma she has been through. I'm trying to talk her out of it by getting her to focus on my voice." Jasper was trying very hard to be calm, but I could tell he was failing.

"Bella sweetie, I need you to listen to me. I need you to try and focus on my voice. Bella you are safe. You are with friends who care a great deal about you. Bella your parents are here and so is Edward. "

"Esme, Alice talk to her, let her hear your voices."

"Bella sweetie… it's me Alice… can you hear me?" The panic was still in her voice. I wanted to snap out of this, I wanted to let her know I was ok, but I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself out of the feeling of danger.

"Alice love I need you to go and get Edward."

"Jasper I'm not leaving her." Alice yelled at him. I could tell she was hurt that he would ask her to leave.

"Alice love, please listen to me. I know you love her and you want to help, but sweetie right now you are too panicked to help. She needs calm voices to try and pull her out of this. I know you want to help and this is how I need you to help me."

I could hear her whimper as she left us there to go and get Edward.

"Bella, sweetie, it's Esme. Dear please listen to my voice. We are here for you darling. We love you very much and we need you to hear our voices. We need you to know that you are safe." Esme's mothering instincts were in full gear and there was such calm to her voice.

"Bella sweetie, Alice has gone to get Edward. He is going to be here any second. I am so happy to see the two of your together Bella. You are so good for him and I know he is good for you too. I have seen such a change in him this weekend with you, Bella. He cares so much for you. Sweetie, please come back to us, to him.

Edward, my sweet Edward. His smile, his touch, his kiss. Thoughts of him began to flood my senses and the feeling of danger was starting to fade.

"Esme, I need you to keep talking to her. I see Edward and Carlisle. I need to speak with them for a moment." Jasper left us there. Esme took my hands into hers and kept talking to me.

"Bella sweetie, I want you to know something. I know he is not ready to admit it yet, but sweetie Edward loves you. I know him better then he thinks I do and I know he loves you sweetie."

Edward loves me. Edward loves me. Edward loves me. I kept repeating it over and over again in my head.

I suddenly felt the warmth of his touch. Edward was there, my sweet Edward was there, his arms around me, his voice in my ear.

"Bella, my sweet Bella Luna, I'm here. Listen to my voice. You're safe. Everything is ok. I'm here darling. I'm right here."

"She's in shock Edward, but I can tell her pupils are starting to dilate again. Keep talking to her." I suddenly realized that Carlisle was in front of me, checking my eyes. For the first time since that bump I was beginning to see again.

"Bella love, you're missing the second half of the game. We just scored a touchdown a moment ago and you missed it. I know how much you love to watch football and right now you are missing it. Come back to me sweetie, come back to us and we'll go watch the game. It'll be like it was a week ago. Remember, how close that game was. Remember how you jumped up and cheered and we all looked at you surprised. You found your voice to cheer our boys on then sweetie and they need you to do it again. They, we need you to find your voice again sweetie. Need you to know you are safe like you were that day. Everything is ok my Bella Luna."

He leaned in and kissed my cheek and the feel of his lips sent calming warmth down my body. I could feel my eyes blink for the first time.

"Keep talking Edward, she just blinked. Her heart rate is slowing down." Carlisle said.

Edward kept talking to me about little things. I could hear what he was saying, the sweet words he was telling me, talking about music, about movies, about whatever he could. Suddenly everything was becoming clearer. EVERYTHING was becoming clearer. The bump, the touch, the voice, the words. He didn't say _excuse me_. He said _Hello Bella_. It was his touch, it was his voice, it was him.

"Edward" I heard my own voice for the first time in the sea of voices around me.

"Oh Bella, thank God." There was so much joy in Edward's voice. I could hear sighs of relief all around me.

But there was no relief for me. It was him. He sought me out, he made a point to let me know he was there and he knew my name.

"Edward, it was him. He was here and he knows my name."

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A/N: Questions, comments, and reviews are always welcomed.


	14. Chapter 14

**SM owns all things Twilight**

A/N:Sorry about the cliffhanger in the last chapter. It wasn't my intent to end it that way, but it just sort of wrote itself.

Thank you all though for the love you have shown this story!

**

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****Chapter Fourteen**

"Edward, it was him. He was here and he knows my name."

As soon as she got the words out I could tell she was falling back to wherever she had just been.

I could feel the rage boiling up inside of me. I think at that moment I could have killed someone. I was shaking, shaking so badly I could have hurt her.

"Edward man you have got to pull it together." Jasper was in my ear more or less begging. "She is teetering right now and your reaction is going to push her to a place we may not be able to pull her out of. You have got to calm down and talk to her again."

I knew he was right but it still took everything I had in me to find the strength to calm down.

"Bella sweetie, it's ok. You are safe right now. Right now at this moment you are safe." I looked over at Jasper and at Dad to see if this was the right direction to go. The nod of their heads told me to continue.

"Bella love, look at me, look into my eyes. Let me see those beautiful brown eyes that remind me of the richest chocolate in the world." She looked at me for the first time since I took her in my arms.

"Edward?" She said as if she was just waking up. Tears were falling down her face. Her whole body was trembling.

"Bella dear, I'm right here. Can you move? Can you stand up for me? We want to get you out of here. We want to get you somewhere that you will be more comfortable."

Bella shook her head yes and began to stand up.

The rest of our group had made their way over to where we were. Charlie, Renee and Emmett were trying to get to Bella, but dad and Jasper were begging them to hold off rushing over to her and possibly sending her back over the edge.

After we were on our feet again, we stood there for a few minutes as I waited for her to gather her strength to walk. She started to move when her legs gave out from underneath her. I swooped her up into my arms and began to carry her to the exit. She pulled her arms up around my neck. When I looked back, I saw Charlie and Emmett both trying to get past Jasper and Carlisle to rush to Bella.

I shook my head at them to let them know I had her and to follow us.

"Edward, where are you taking me?" I could barely hear her even though she was so close. Her head was buried in my chest, her hair falling around her face, protecting her.

"Just getting away from here sweetie. Emmett is going to get his Jeep and we are going to head out."

As we got closer to the entrance and the crowd of people grew thinner, Emmett and Peter both rushed past me to get their cars. Thankfully, Bella didn't notice, she was very still and her breathing had calmed a great deal.

I found a bench and sat down while we waited for Emmett and Peter to return with the vehicles. Everyone was standing around us, looking at Bella, trying to figure out what was going on. Charlie was holding Renee who was shaking from her sobs. I could tell that it was killing Charlie to not come over and take her out of my arms. Had it been anyone other than dad telling him he needed to step back and let me do this I knew he would have taken her away already. Alice had her head buried in Charlotte's shoulder, her body movements the same as Renee's. Jasper was standing behind me watching Bella for any signs of another attack.

As we were sitting there waiting, Bella's body suddenly went limp, like she was dead weight.

"Bella sweetie." I whispered in her ear but got no response. Panic began to fill me and I looked over at Dad begging him to come over to us with my eyes. He calmly told Charlie and Renee he was going to check on us and would be right back over.

"Edward, what's wrong?" he said in a whisper, trying not to raise panic in the others. Jasper was now kneeling down in front of us.

"Dad she just went limp." It took everything I had to whisper and not scream the words at him. I was trying so hard to be calm for her, but those words _he was here; he knows my name_, kept running through my mind.

"Bella sweetie?" Dad whispered into her ear. When she didn't respond he pulled her hair back out of her face. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was asleep. He pulled her head back as easily as he could so he could check her pulse and her breathing.

"Her breathing is steady and her pulse is calm. I believe she passed out from fear and the exhaustion from the panic attack. This is her body's way of dealing with the stress."

Dad went back over to Charlie to explain what was going on and to keep him at bay.

"Jasper what the hell happened?"

"I really don't know Edward. She was fine and smiling at me when she offered to take a couple of the drinks I had that were about to fall over. After she took them, she suddenly dropped them. I looked down at the drinks, trying to figure out the mess and when I looked up at her she was frozen. All of the color had drained out of her face and then she just fell to the ground. I could tell she was having a panic attack, but I cannot figure out what prompted it."

"Do you remember seeing anyone? She said he was here, that he knows her name? Did someone talk to her?"

"Not that I could tell, but there were so many people around Edward, we were both getting bumped on all sides." He had a look of pain on his face, like he was angry with himself for some reason and his voice was full of remorse.

"Jasper it's ok. What you did for her back there was amazing. I would have freaked out so badly and made it so much worse. Thank you for keeping a cool head about you and making the rest of us do the same. I know we give you shit about being a head doctor, but damn, right now Jasper I couldn't be more thankful."

He laughed and I could see the pain leaving his face.

Emmett and Peter's cars pulled up and Emmett rushed over to Bella and I. Dad and the others came over to meet us as well.

"I think we should take Bella back to our suite at the hotel. She can rest there while we try and figure out what happened and what she said."

"What do you mean, what she said?" Charlie barked at dad.

"Charlie, we'll talk about it once we get back to the room. I need you to remain calm for now." He said holding his ground with Charlie.

Emmett picked Bella up out of my lap and I rushed over to his Jeep, jumping in and taking Bella back into my arms. She never moved. Dad got in beside me and Charlie and Renee piled into the Jeep with us. The rest jumped into Peter's Suburban.

Charlie kept looking back at Bella. I could tell Dad's words were running through his head.

"Do I need to contact Jake and Sam?" Charlie asked looking at me.

"I think so sir."

I could see the look of anger taking over the panic on Charlie's face as he pulled out his cell phone.

"Jacob, its Charlie. Something's happened."

Once we were back in the room, we laid Bella down in the bedroom. She had not moved the entire time we were in the car or as I carried her to the room. Dad checked her vitals again and went back into the living room part of the suite, waiting with the others for Jake and Sam. Renee and mom were in the room with us, sitting on the bed. I paced the floor back and forth, her words running through my mind.

"Mom, were you there when it happened?"

"No darling, when Alice and I came out of the bathroom, they were on the ground. Jasper was holding her face trying to get her to focus on him."

"Edward, what did she say, what has you so worried?" Renee asked walking over to where I was pacing. She stood in front of me to get me to stop. I couldn't look at her; I didn't want to say the words to her.

"Edward, please!" She begged.

I turned my head to Renee but couldn't look at her; instead I looked over at Bella. She looked like an angel sleeping there so quietly. No trace of fear or panic on her face.

"She said it was him… he was there… and that he knew her name."

"No." Renee whispered before rushing back over to Bella and taking her hand.

Esme was sitting on the other side of the bed holding Bella's other hand. I could see her shoulders slump, God only knows what thoughts were running through her mind.

I went back to pacing the floor only to have raised voices in the other room stop me in my tracks. I didn't want to leave Bella, but I knew I needed to go see what was going on. I looked over at mom for help.

"It's ok Edward, go see what the problem is, we're here for her."

Opening the door, I could see Charlie in dad's face yelling at him.

"Carlisle, you asked me to wait and I did, now tell me what the hell happened back there."

"It was him." I said trying to draw Charlie away from Dad.

All the color drained from his face and he just stood there, not moving.

Renee, having heard Charlie yelling at dad had walked out of the bedroom as well and over towards Charlie. I started to finish what Bella had said when there was a knock on the door. Emmett opened the door, and Jake and Sam walked into the room.

"Edward, Charlie what happened, where's Bella?" Sam asked.

"She's lying down right now." Carlisle said walking over to the detectives with his hand out. "My name is Carlisle Cullen, Edward's dad." I could see the Doctor in dad taking over, feeling like he needed to take control of the room for the sake of everyone there.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Cullen." Sam said taking dad's hand. "My name is Sam Uley and this is Jacob Black." He said pointing over to Jake who's hand was extended out to take dads. "Is Bella ok?"

"She is now. Something happened at the game, something triggered a panic attack." Dad answered.

"Bella said he was there, that he knew her name." I said, barely able to control my anger.

This new information sent a wave of shock and tension through the room. The air was suddenly so thick I swear you could see it.

"Edward, tell me what happened." Sam asked me, a look of great concern on his face.

"I was with her when it happened sir." Jasper told Sam. He recounted his story for Sam and the others, also explaining some other reaction that Bella had earlier in the day.

When he was finished, silence filled the air once again. Nobody knew what to say.

"So you didn't see anyone?" Jake asked Jasper.

"No one that stood out or did anything in particular. There were so many people around us, it would have been hard to figure who he could have been and what made her think it was him."

Jake looked at Sam who nodded his head in response.

"Jake, what is it?" I asked.

"We were worried that he may try something again."

"What!" Emmett yelled. He had been standing behind us near the door but he was now in Jake's face. "And you're just now telling us this."

Peter walked over to Emmett and pulled him away before his temper got the better of him.

"Let him finish Emmett." Peter said.

"It was something that Bella said in her statement, he told her not to fight him that he had waited too long for this. It had us worried that she wasn't just a girl that he had chosen because she was walking down that path. We were worried that he followed her, perhaps had been following her for some time."

"You think he was stalking her?" I asked.

"It was always a possibility, Edward and unfortunately now I think it's a reality."

"Do you think he is a student?" Renee asked.

"Either that or someone who works on campus. He would be someone who had seen Bella on a regular basis."

I noticed Jake kept looking over at Charlie who had been unusually quiet during Jake's admission. When he caught my eye he turned his back to the group, his head hung down. I wasn't the only one who noticed the exchange.

"Charlie?" Renee questioned him.

"I was afraid this was going to happen." He said, just barely loud enough for the rest of us to hear. He was still turned away from the group.

"What do you mean you were afraid? Did they share their concerns with you?" Renee asked with an accusatory tone in her voice.

Charlie lifted his head and looked back at Renee. "Yes, they did."

"Charles Swan you knew there was a possibility your daughter was being stalked and you didn't say a word to any of us." There was so much anger rolling off of Renee at that moment I would have felt sorry for Charlie had I not been in shock.

"Why do you think I have been so damn adamant for her to get a gun?" He snapped back at her.

"Don't you dare yell at me Charlie! How could you keep this from me, from Bella?"

"Because I was fighting between my urge to get her the hell out of Seattle and back home and the fear she would hate me for making her leaving. You know how stubborn she is Renee. She wouldn't have left, no matter what we told her."

"How dare you blame her for you failure to share earth shattering news with your family."

"I'm not blaming her." I could tell Charlie was struggling with his words, trying to say the right thing. "It's just…I knew…damn it! Renee, think about it. Think about how that conversation would have gone. Me telling her what Jake, Sam and I suspected. I would have told her she had to come home and she would have told me she was not going to allow someone else to dictate how she was going to live her life. I would have begged her to leave and she would have begged me to stay. And where would you have been in all of this Renee? You have been telling me since she left for school that I needed to let her grow up, but would you have been willing to let her knowing this news? I was just trying to keep this from happening. I was just trying to give her some normalcy, to keep this from pulling us apart. I should have told you and her both, I know that. I screwed up Renee. I tried to do what I thought would be best for all of us while fighting the urge to throw her over my shoulder and pull her out of here kicking and screaming." Charlie broke, he couldn't say anything else. To admit all of that out loud had to have been one of the hardest things he had ever done. He turned back around, his back to the rest of us.

"Charlie." Renee sighed walking over to him and putting her arm around his shoulder. She was whispering something in his ear, trying to calm him down.

There was a shuffle in the room as everyone tried to focus their attention to something other than Charlie and Renee.

"Detective Black, was there something else that made you think he was after Bella specifically?" Dad asked trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Please call me Jake."

"Of course, Jake." Dad responded with a smile encouraging Jake to continue on.

"The biggest thing was what he said, but it triggered this gut feeling for both Sam and I. What DNA we were able to get off of her clothes and from under her nails gave us no clues at all. There were no hits locally. We even expanded the search to cover the entire US but got nothing. And as odd as it sounds, the place of the attack didn't seem right. If you were not someone familiar with the campus you wouldn't really know what the path was or where it led or even think that it would be a good place to wait and attack anyone. We searched the woods surrounding the area and there were no signs of someone living there or even that someone had been waiting in those woods looking for someone. That's what made us think he was someone on campus, possibly someone who had been watching her and more than likely someone who followed her down that path instead of hiding there waiting."

The room fell silent as everyone took in Jake's words. Rage consumed me again. I wanted to kill this son of bitch. I wanted to find him and put him out of our misery. I wanted to make him suffer for what he had done to Bella and for whatever sick thoughts were going through his mind.

"Of course it's all just speculation." Jake's words brought me back from my murderous thoughts. "And a great deal of frustration. I want more than anything to find this bastard, to stop him before he hurts her or anyone else again." Jake seemed to have the same rage in his voice that I felt.

"If we knew for sure what happened today, knew for sure that he made contact with her, we could get a warrant to pull security videos from the stadium. It might not help at all, but at least it would be something."

"He said 'hello Bella.'" Said a tiny quiet voice.

All eyes in the room turned towards the bedroom door, to Bella. She was standing in the doorway, mom's arm around her waist, supporting her. She was still very pale, but her focus seemed to be clear, the look of panic gone from her face.

"Bella, you shouldn't be up." Dad said as he rushed over to her.

"I'm ok Carlisle." She smiled up at him, raising her hand up to his face trying to calm him down. It was the same gesture I had seen her do countless number of times to all of us.

"Bella, I know it would help to talk about this, but maybe right now isn't the best time." Jasper said. I could tell he was concerned talking about what happened so soon might trigger another attack.

"Really Jasper, I'm ok. I need to let Jake and Sam know what happened."

"Bella are you sure?" Jake asked "We can come back in a few hours and get your statement."

"I'm positive Jake."

I walked over to Bella and took her hand walking her over to the couch where Jake stood. She looked so relieved to see me and the touch of her hand helped me to calm the rage that was trying to take me over.

After we sat down, Renee came over and sat on the other side of her, Charlie stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at Charlie and nodded her head like she understood him. I didn't realize it, but she must have heard Charlie's confession.

"What happened today?" Jake asked her.

"I was standing outside of the women's restroom waiting on Alice and Esme when I saw Jasper fighting to keep all of the drinks he was holding from spilling over. I offered to help him, taking a few of the drinks out of his hands when someone brushed up against me. At first I thought they said excuse me, but there was something about their touch and that voice that made me freeze. I could feel myself falling; feel the world crashing down on me. I could hear Jasper and the others talking to me, but I couldn't speak. My mind was clear as day, but nothing else was working. In the back of my mind I knew there was something wrong, something evil about that bump, something evil in his words. It wasn't until Edward came over and started talking to me that everything became very clear. The calm that Edward's voice brings me helped me fight the fear that was blocking out what just happened."

I could feel Bella's grip tighten around my hand as she looked over at me and smiled.

"He didn't say 'excuse me', he said 'hello Bella'. And he didn't just bump into me; he had brushed his hand against my back, running his fingers across my shirt." Bella and I both shuttered at her words.

"Bella are you sure?" Sam asked. I could tell from the tone in his voice he believed her, but he had to hear her say for sure that she knew it was him.

"It was him. I would know that voice anywhere. It haunts my dreams every night. I may not have gotten a look at his face, but that voice, it will stay with me until the day I die."

"Thank you Bella, I know that wasn't easy for you." Sam said kneeling down in front of her. "We're going to head back to the station and talk to our captain, see if we cannot try and get a warrant to pull security video. Like Jake said, there is no guarantee, but we have to at least try."

Sam and Jake shook hands with Charlie and said goodbye to the rest of us before heading back to the station.

"Bella sweetie, how are you doing?" Dad said walking over to her and kneeling down where Sam had just been.

"I'm ok Carlisle. My head is clear, I feel safe. I just feel run down, kind of like I do after I have a migraine." Dad had taken Bella's hand in his and was checking her pulse rate.

"Well your rate is good and your pupils seem to be back to normal." He said with a wary smile on his face. "But you need to take it easy Bella. The stress you experienced today was too much for your body and that is why you shut down like you did. If you feel anything, any sort of panic or fear or stress, anything at all, you have to let me know."

"Yes sir." She said smiling at him.

"I think we need to give Bella a little space." Peter said

"No Peter, I'm fine, please don't feel like you have to go."

"I know, sweetie, but Carlisle's right, you need to rest a bit. We'll be back ok. We'll bring dinner back for everyone and just chill out in the room tonight.

"That sounds like a great idea." Dad said. "Charlie, I know you guys already checked out of your room planning on leaving today, but something tells me that isn't going to happen. You two should just stay here tonight. Esme, Renee and Bella can take the bedroom. The king bed should be big enough for the three of them. With the two couches and the big chair in here, the three of us should be able to sleep out here." Dad said pointing to Charlie, himself and I.

"Thank you Carlisle, we would appreciate that very much." Charlie said. It was the first time he had spoken since his admission earlier.

"Emmett, would you mind giving me a ride back to the dorm so I can get my car and our stuff." Charlie asked.

"No sir, not at all."

"Emmett can I catch a ride to, I'd like to get my car so I can have it in the morning to take mom and dad to the airport." I really didn't want to leave Bella, but I knew she was in good hands.

"I should get mine too." Jasper chimed in.

"Sure thing." Emmett replied.

"Sweetie, I'll be back in a little bit. Please try and get some rest like dad asked ok?"

"I'll try." She said smiling at me. There was a hint of light coming back to her eyes which did my heart good to see.

I leaned in and kissed her cheek before getting up off the couch. Poor Alice was standing next to Jasper with a look of shell shock on her face. She hadn't said a word that I could remember since she came and got me at the game. I felt so bad for her. I knew this had to be killing her as much as it was me. As we gathered our stuff together to leave, I pulled Alice into a hug, hoping to comfort her.

"She's ok now Alice. I know that was scary to see, but she's ok now. Go sit with her, hold her hand. It did wonders for me."

"Thank you Edward." She whispered wiping tears from her eyes.

The ride back to campus was very quiet, none of us really knowing what to say. I could see something was running through Charlie's mind.

"I need to ask you boys a big favor." He finally said.

"Anything Charlie." Emmett replied.

"I know there is no point arguing with Bella about her leaving school even though I want nothing more than to take her home with me. So I need to know that you will watch over her for me, make sure she is ok."

"Of course we will Charlie." Emmett replied again before I could say anything.

"I don't want her walking around by herself. I know it's asking a lot and she will probably hate it, but I want someone with her at all times when she is out and about on campus."

"It's not asking a lot at all." Emmett said. "Besides, I already have it figured out. Between the three of us and Mike and those guys we will make sure she always has an escort."

Charlie's small smile told us he was proud of Emmett for being on top of things.

"Edward." He turned to me. "I know we didn't get off on the best foot and that is my fault."

"It was understandable sir given the situation." I said trying to let him know it was forgiven and forgotten.

"No Edward, it really wasn't. I should have handled it better. I need you to know it has been hard for me to see the two of you together this past week. Not because I have a problem with you, but because I see for the first time in her life that some guy other then myself is taking care of her."

"Hey what about me?" Emmett piped up acting like he was crushed.

"Big brothers don't count Emmett." Charlie said chuckling.

"Edward she cares a great deal for you and I can see that you feel the same way about her. She needs you right now, probably more then she needs anyone else. Like I said that is very hard for me, but having witnessed the two f you together, it makes it a little bit easier for me to let her stay here. I just need to know that you will continue to be there for her no matter what."

I was very surprised at his words. I knew it had to be the hardest thing he would ever do leaving her here, but he was doing so and he trusted me to take care of her.

"I promise you Charlie, I will be there for her no matter what. She means the world to me and I will do everything in my power to make sure she is safe and feels protected."

"Thank you son, you have no idea how much that means to me."

When I got back to the hotel room, Bella and Alice were sitting on the couch crying.

"What's wrong?" I said rushing over to Bella's side.

"Nothing Edward, we were watching _Wall*E_." Alice answered.

"_Wall*E_? Isn't that a kid's movie?" I was finding it hard to believe a kid's movie could make anyone cry like that.

"It's not just a kid's movie. It's a love story. A very sweet, story about the innocence and beauty of the truest kind of love. The last few minutes of it are so heartbreaking and then so heartwarming that it make us cry every time." Bella said, wiping her eyes.

"Seriously?" I asked her with a smirk on my face.

"Have you seen it yet?" She asked a little irritated with me.

"No."

"Then you have no idea. I'm going to make you watch it with me sometime and you'll see. You may not cry, but you'll see!"

"Ok." I said doubting I would be able to see what she was talking about.

"And if you laugh at me when I cry, which I know I will, I'll never speak to you again got it?" She said with the biggest smile on her face. It was so good to see that beautiful smile and the light in her eyes return.

The others arrived shortly after as did Peter and Charlotte with dinner for everyone. They had brought a good mix of different foods and set everything up buffet style. Laughter filled the room and everything felt like it had the tailgate.

It was nice to be in that room, sitting around with friends and family. I was once again overwhelmed by the feelings of love that filled the air. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that anyone of us would have given the world to Bella if she needed it. We were a family, the twelve of us were a family and Bella was the center.

We sat around and talked in small groups for a few hours before the party broke up. I never left Bella's side, wanting to keep her close to me in case something triggered her panic again.

Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rose decided to stay with Peter and Charlotte who also had a suite at the hotel. We all wished the others goodnight after agreeing to get back together in the morning for breakfast.

We said our goodnights to Bella, Renee and mom as they moved to the bedroom and we settled into the living room. I took the oversized chair and ottoman and sat there quietly letting the day take over.

I wanted to stay wrapped up in the love in the room for Bella, the love that I felt for Bella. It scared the hell out of me, but I knew it was true, I knew that I was in love with her and that it was a love that I had never felt before in my whole life.

I tried to focus on that love and it was easy to do when she was there, when we were surrounded by family. But here in the dark, alone with my thoughts, I couldn't think about anything other than him.

It was bad enough to think of some random son of a bitch hurting Bella, but the idea that he was out there stalking her was too much. I was terrified of what could happen to her. Terrified of what sick thoughts could be going through his mind. A bit terrified and consumed with hatred and anger that I felt towards him and the desire that I had to hurt him. I never thought of myself as violent person, but as I lay there, all I could think about was what I would do to him if he ever tried to hurt her again.

I had been sitting there running through vengeful scenarios in my head for hours when her screams started.

"No, don't touch me. No stop it, please God stop him! Make him stop speaking! Make him shut up!"

I ran into the bedroom with Charlie and Dad following close behind me. Bella was sitting straight up in the bed, but she looked to be still dreaming. She was thrashing against mom and Renee who were trying to wake her up.

Instinct took over and I crawled on to the bed, stopping on my knees in front of her.

"Bella, sweetie it's me. It's Edward. I'm right here. Wake up love, it's just a dream." She grabbed a hold of my arms trying to push me away.

"Bella! Wake up! I'm right here! You are safe! He is not here!" I raised my voice this time, trying to draw her out, shaking her lightly.

Her grip on my arms tightened and she suddenly opened her eyes. She looked straight at me, panic in her eyes. She sat there for a moment, looking at me and the others when she finally realized where she was and that she was surrounded by people who loved her.

"Edward, he kept saying my name over and over again."

I pulled her into my arms and cradled her. "Oh sweetie, it was a dream, your safe. Safe here in my arms. Please try not to think about him. Think about good things. Think about Alice and Emmett. Think about how much your parents love you. Think about how much I…" I wanted to say _how much I love you_, but I couldn't. Not here and now. I didn't want a reaction to a bad dream to be the first time I confessed my love to her. "Think about how much I enjoy being with you." It was weak I knew, but it would have to do for now.

"Thank you Edward, thank you for those words."

I rocked her back and forth until her breathing calmed down. Mom and Renee got up off the bed to allow Bella and me to lie down, me holding her in my arms, tightly against me.

I looked over at Charlie nervously, not sure if he was ok with me doing this.

The look on his face, in his eyes told me that he knew I would keep my promise to him and always be there for her. And that helped him to be ok with seeing me lying down in the bed with his daughter, holding her half dressed body next to mine.

I also knew that without a doubt from this moment on, I would always keep my promise to Charlie.

* * *

A/N: Reviews are always welcomed. There are happy times to come in the next chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

"Bella Luna." I whispered into her ear.

"Hmm." She moaned pleasantly. I couldn't help but be excited by the sound, but knew I had to control myself considering her father was standing beside the bed we were laying in cradled in each other's arms.

Charlie had been coming in the room about every fifteen minutes for the past hour checking on us. I tried to pretend I was asleep, but he caught me the last time he came in. I had my head resting on my raised arm watching Bella sleep when I realized Charlie was standing in the room and I knew it was time to get up.

"Bella Luna, sweetie, it's time to wake up."

"Five more minutes please Edward; I don't want to leave this heavenly spot." She nestled her face into my neck, kissing me softly.

Charlie cleared his throat and Bella's head popped up.

"Daddy?" she asked in bewilderment. Her face was such a beautiful color of pink.

"Yes darling, I'm right here." He said trying to hide his smile. "You guys need to get up. We have to meet the others for breakfast, remember?"

"Oh yeah." The joy that had been on her face suddenly washed away as she remembered how we ended up in this bed together. She lowered her head back into the pillow.

"It's ok Bella, you're safe now, it's a new day and your family that loves you is all around you." I said trying to bring the joy back to her face.

She looked up at me her face pale but then she started to slowly smile. A look of resolve suddenly came over her face and she sat up in the bed.

"You're right Edward, it is a new day and we have family to meet."

She looked over at Charlie with a big smile on her face and I could tell that it wasn't forced. Whatever her resolve was it brought back a very beautiful smile to her face.

"I'll be out in a moment daddy." She beamed at him.

There was a look of joy on Charlie's face that lasted for about a minute when he looked over at me.

"Bella…I'm going to go in the other room and let you get dressed." I said trying to get out from under Charlie's glare.

"Great idea Edward." Charlie said as he followed me out of the room. I knew Charlie approved of me being with Bella and that he trusted me with her. But I also knew seeing us lying together in bed or the thought of me watching her get dressed was something he just didn't want to have lingering in his head.

We met the others for breakfast at a small diner down the street from the hotel. Mom and dad needed to be at the airport by 10:30 to allow time to get though the security line which always seemed to be worse on Sunday mornings. Peter and Charlotte as well as Charlie and Renee were heading back to Forks after breakfast.

Breakfast was very pleasant, filled with the same love that was with us the night before. Esme and Renee sat on either side of Bella with Charlie on the other side of Renee. It was going to be hard for the three of them to leave her; there was no doubt in my mind.

I knew my mother would adore Bella from the moment that she met her, but I didn't expect the protectiveness that was exuding from her. It was just another testament to the power Bella had over people.

The goodbyes that followed breakfast were difficult and heartwarming at the same time. Peter and Charlotte both hugged Bella tightly and told her they were looking forward to seeing her at Thanksgiving.

Renee and Esme, who had quickly become best friends, exchanged phone and e-mail information and I knew there were long conversations ahead for the two of them.

As Renee and Bella hugged each other goodbye, Charlie walked over to me with his hand out for me to shake.

"Just remember your promise Edward. I'm leaving the most precious thing in the world in your hands. Don't let me down." He said after taking my hand in his. He put his other hand on my shoulder and looked me square in the eyes.

"I will not let you down sir. She means the world to me too and I will do everything in my power to make sure she is ok."

Charlie pulled me into a half hug smiling. "You know Edward, I really believe you will."

I looked over at Bella who was watching us and she had the biggest smile on her face. I knew she couldn't hear the words we had exchanged, but I could tell the gesture alone, meant the world to her.

Renee walked over to me and pulled me into a hug as Charlie went over to Bella and did the same.

"Thank you Edward, for everything. I'm so glad you two have found each other. It makes me so happy to see Bella with you." She pulled out of the hug and looked up into my face. "Take care of our Bella." She smiled as she leaned up and kissed my cheek.

The embrace between Charlie and Bella lasted for a long time. I knew it was killing Charlie to let go of her, to let her stay here. He was whispering something in her ear as Renee approached them, letting Charlie know they needed to go.

"I love you too daddy." She whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek. Charlie sighed and finally let go.

I walked over to Bella and put my arm around her waist. I knew she was going to need someone to lean on when their car pulled away, but I also wanted Charlie to know I was here for her.

Renee and Charlie pulled away from the diner on their way back to Forks but not before turning back to look at Bella one last time. I could feel Bella trying to hold back tears.

Emmett, Alice, Jazz and Rose said their goodbyes to mom and dad and told us they would meet us back at the dorm around 6:30 to go over our schedules so we could make sure Bella was never alone.

When we told her of our plans at breakfast she was not happy about it at all. She was very stubborn and extremely hard headed, but so were we and she could only argue with the rest of us for so long.

Mom and Bella sat in the back seat of my car on the way to the airport. Bella's head was on mom's shoulder and they were holding hands. Neither one of them said a word, but their actions spoke volumes.

As we pulled up to the drop off zone of the airport, I could see my mother looking forlorn. I knew she really didn't want to leave. I could see just how difficult this was going to be as we all got out of the car.

"Take care of our girl Edward." Dad said to me as I pulled their luggage out of the trunk. Mom and Bella were standing to the side in a long embrace.

"I will dad." I chuckled at his words.

"I'm really proud of you son." He said as he hugged me goodbye.

"Thank you dad. That means the world to me coming from you."

We walked over to mom and Bella as they were pulling apart from their hug.

"Now you have my number and e-mail, right sweetie?" Mom asked her.

"Yes ma'am I do."

"I love you Bella."

"I love you too Esme."

Dad looked over at me and shook his head. He knew I was right. Even though they had only known each other for three days, mom saw Bella as the daughter she never had and I could tell that Bella truly loved mom as well.

Dad and Bella hugged as mom came over to me and pulled me close to her. She pulled back, her arms still around mine and looked over at Bella with such love. When she looked back at me, there were tears falling down her face.

"Edward…I…" she choked through her tears.

"I know mom. I feel the same way." Her eyes beamed with happiness as she pulled me back into the hug.

"I know you do sweetie, I know you do." She said.

As we stood there watching mom and dad disappear into the airport, Bella turned to me and put her arms around my waist. I could feel her tears through my shirt.

"Bella Luna, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong Edward." She said looking up at me. "As shitty as this weekend was at times, it was one of the best weekends of my life. My family has grown Edward, despite this horrible thing that happened. My family has grown and I couldn't be happier right now."

"Is that what happened to you this morning? Is that what helped you to smile after you realized where you were?"

"It was, you words, saying that my family was around me, made me realize that my family has gotten bigger and that makes me a very lucky person."

The look on her face was so beautiful. She was glowing, truly glowing. I leaned down into her, pulling her face to mine. Her lips were so warm and so soft. The way in which her lips seem to mold themselves around mine, like we were made to kiss each other and no one else sent shivers throughout my body. I could feel her arms glide up my back as she pulled me closer to her body. She opened her mouth slightly as if she was inviting me in further. Her taste was amazing and I felt this sudden rush of passion. I opened my mouth up to her, to let my tongue begin a dance with her own when someone clearing their throat broke our moment.

I looked up to see a TSA agent standing beside us pointing to an _**Unloading Only**_ sign that was next to my car.

"Damn it!" I growled before pulling away from Bella.

She giggled like a school girl who had been caught before leaning up and kissing me quickly on the lips. I walked her over to the passenger door and opened it for her letting her in.

"Edward, how stocked up is your kitchen with cooking utensils and pots and pans?" Bella had been quiet the whole car ride up until this moment. She had the sweetest smile on her face and I didn't want to take that away from her so I let her be. I wasn't expecting her to be thinking about my kitchen though.

"Um, mom made sure that I had everything that a normal kitchen would have although we probably only used a tenth of it."

"Can I ask a huge favor?"

"Yeah, I guess." I answered, still not sure where she was going with this.

"Can you pull in over there?" She said pointing to The World Market that was beside the red light we were stopped at.

"Yeah we can, is everything alright?" I asked, surprised.

"Well you know how the others are coming over at 6:30? I thought it would be nice to cook dinner for them to say thank you and I wanted to see if I could use your kitchen."

"Bella you can use my kitchen anytime, but sweetie you don't have to do that. You don't have to thank anybody for anything."

"I know and well…it isn't just for them. I have another reason that is kind of selfish." She said sheepishly.

I couldn't for the life of me think of any way that Bella could be selfish. "I doubt that." I said as I pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store.

"Cooking has always been a stress reliever for me, and well, I kind of need something to help take my mind of things and I figured that would be a great way. Plus I can feed my friends in the process." She looked up at me as if she was concerned her words were going to offend me.

Putting the car in park, I leaned over the console and kissed her. "Bella, there is nothing selfish about needing a stress reliever. If cooking makes you happy, then love you can use my kitchen anytime you need to."

The beautiful light in her eyes was at full capacity and the color of her cheeks was just beautiful. I could have stared at her like that forever.

After checking with me to see if I had certain cooking items she set about picking out things for dinner. In the produce section she picked out Roma tomatoes, picking each one up, smelling and feeling them for firmness which was surprisingly sexy to watch. She also picked out a bundle of fresh basil and a garlic clove. In the bakery section she picked out a loaf of fresh Italian bread smelling it the same way she had done with tomatoes. She made her way over to the baking aisle and picked up a small thing of flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, vanilla beans and small pie pans. She picked up some chicken breasts in the meat section and in the dairy section got heavy cream, eggs, cheese and fresh pasta.

I could tell that she was making Chicken Parm which I had to admit made me secretly very happy because I loved Chicken Parm, but I couldn't figure out what kind of dessert she was going to make.

We got up to the register and as she was pulling out her wallet to pay, I put my hand over hers while pulling my wallet out with the other. "I've got this." I said, not thinking twice about it.

"Edward, no…"

I put my fingers over her lips. "Dr's orders." I said shaking my head and giving the clerk my card.

"Ok that line just got real tired!" She said very frustrated with me.

I winked at her as I took my card back from the clerk who was smiling at us. She went to grab the bags but I reached over her and picked them up pulling them over her head. She stomped her foot like a little girl before huffing out of the store not looking back to see if I was coming. I couldn't help but laugh. It was one of the funniest things I had seen her do because it was so out of character.

The ride back to the dorm was painfully quiet. She stared out the window the whole time, refusing to look at me. I began to really worry that she was truly pissed at me for buying the groceries and being a bit of a smart ass. I began to rack my brain trying to figure out something, anything I could say that would bring a smile back to her face and her attention back to me. I started to think back to all of our conversations over the past week when it hit me.

Bella told me that she and her dad use to watch _Raising Arizona_ all the time as it was one of her dad's favorites. She said that she had seen it so many times; she could more or less recite the movie from memory. Being a huge fan of all things Cohen brothers, I started thinking about some of the funniest lines from the movie.

We were stopped at a red light when I looked over at her. "Son, you've got a panty on your head." I said in as twangy a voice as I could.

Her body lurched forward a bit as she tried to stifle the laugh that escaped her lips. She looked over at me with surprise on her face and I gave her my biggest, brightest smile then stuck my tongue out at her.

She couldn't stifle her laughs anymore and she pressed her palm to her forehead while shaking her head and laughing out loud at the same time.

"What am I going to do with you?" she said still laughing.

"Be mine?" I said holding my hand out for her to take.

"Gladly" she said taking my hand, that beautiful light coming back into her eyes.

"Bella, you're making Chicken Parm for dinner right?" I asked as I helped her take the items out of the bags.

"I am. Is that ok?"

"That's great actually, I love Chicken Parm."

"Great!" she said smiling.

"What are you making for dessert?"

"Crème Brule."

I love Crème Brule. If the saying, _'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach'_ is true, I was more of a goner than I originally thought.

"Really, isn't that kind of hard to make?" I asked trying to hide my elation.

"Not at all, it's really pretty easy. I could teach you if like?"

"Sure!" I said very eagerly. There was something very appealing about Bella teaching me how to cook something.

"First we need to _mise en place_ our ingredients."

"We need to what?" I asked not sure what she had just said in French, but loved the sound of it coming from her.

"It's a culinary term; it means to put in place." She smugly said.

"Ok now you're just showing off."

"Yep! I can be a smart ass too!" She said as she crinkled her nose at me.

She pulled out the heavy cream, sugar, eggs and vanilla beans along with a sauce pan, mixing bowl, whisk, the small pie tins and a casserole dish placing them in front of us.

"See. This is _mise en place_. This is all we need to make Crème Brule."

"Really, just four ingredients and a few pans? But it seems like it should be so much more than that."

She poured the cream into the sauce pan and pulled out two vanilla beans, smelling them and sighing before she put them into the pot with the cream.

"I know, that is what is so great about it. Brule is really one of those perfect dishes. It's easy to make, although it can be a little temperamental if you don't pay attention to it, but it seems like you put a great deal of time and effort into it. You can add anything to it and make it very decadent or you can keep it simple and it's still just divinely luscious."

The look on her face and the way the word luscious rolled off her tongue was amazing. Her every word and action drew me into her even more.

"Don't you just love the word luscious?" she said with a smile as if she had read my mind.

"Yes!" my voice squeaked.

She looked over at me and winked. _Holy Shit_

She cracked open one of the eggs and let it fall into her hand over a cup. The white of the egg, ran through her fingers as she gently caressed the yolk, separating the two and trying not to break the yolk. She placed the yolk delicately into the mixing bowl and moved onto the next egg. She repeated this step for the remaining seven eggs. Each one she did with the same gentle caress and each time she did, I became more and more unglued. The sight of the whites slipping through her fingers as she lovingly watched the yolk to protect it and the gentle way she cupped the yellow ball in her fingers, with so much care and concern was amazing. I knew I would never be able to look at egg yolks again without being turned on. It was the sexiest thing I had ever seen and was soon followed by six of the sexiest words I had ever heard in my life.

"Brule has the most amazing mouthfeel."

"What?" I choked out, trying to keep the sudden lust I felt for her at bay.

"Mouthfeel. It's another culinary term. It means just what it sounds like. The way something feels in your mouth."

_Oh God Bella please shut up._

"Any great dessert should feel wonderful in your mouth and Brule does. It is just so smooth and creamy. Silky really and leaves your whole body just on the verge as you swallow."

That was it, I couldn't take it anymore.

I turned Bella to me and took her face into my hands, pulling her to me, pressing my lips to hers. I loved the feel of gentle kisses with Bella, but after her culinary display, I wanted more, I wanted full on passion. I opened my mouth, letting my tongue glide across her lips as if I was licking them for her, hoping, praying really that she would let me in. Her lips parted and I could taste the sweetness of her breath, feel the warmth of her before her tongue brushed across mine. Our mouths were slightly apart, our tongues beginning a gingerly dance, when I could feel all of the passion that was consuming me, run through her as she grabbed the back of my hair in her hands and pulled me closer to her. Our kiss became deeper, the gingerly dance our tongues were performing, now moving into an intimate embrace.

My body felt like air, like we were floating on a cloud and I suddenly knew what it meant to feel heavenly. We stayed on our cloud for as long as we could without breathing, until we had to relent. We pulled apart to catch our breath, our cheeks caressing with each pant.

"Oh God Edward, I'm so sorry." Bella said as she pulled her hands away from my now sticky hair. The remnants of the eggs that had slipped through her fingers now embedded in the back of my hair.

"I'm not in the least." I said, my breath still catching. "Fuck me Bella that was…the sexiest thing I have seen or heard."

"Thank you." She whispered her voice suddenly very sultry.

"So… back to the lesson then?" She said as she walked over to the sink to wash her hands.

She added sugar to the egg yolks and began whisking them together after she turned the heat on the pan with the cream and vanilla beans.

"You bring the cream to a slow boil, but you have to watch it because it will boil over the edge before you know it if you don't. Once the cream has warmed you need to temper the eggs."

"Temper?" I asked, completely engrossed in what she was teaching me now.

"Yeah, it means slowly warming. You are going to warm the eggs slowly to get it close to the temperature of the cream. If you add it all at once you will have very sugary scrambled eggs."

"I see what you mean about it being temperamental now."

"Yeah, but if you just give it the love it wants, you are repaid with the sweetest reward."

She poured a little of the cream into the eggs and began to whisk it quickly. "Don't you just love the way the colors swirl together? It really is like creating a piece of art work." The cream swirled ribbons through the bright yellow of the eggs. The look on her face was pure love, like she was an artist mixing together colors to paint a beautiful sunset and was overjoyed with doing so.

Once she had gotten the eggs to the temperature she wanted, she poured them into the cream that she had taken off the heat. The colors mixed into a pale yellow. She fished the vanilla beans out of the mix and split them down the middle.

"What are you doing now?" I asked still engrossed in what she was doing.

"I am going to scrap the inside of the beans to get the vanilla out. You know when you're eating vanilla bean ice cream and you can see brown flecks, that is the paste from the inside of the bean." She took the edge of the knife and scraped down the bean, a small pile of vanilla paste forming on the blade. She wiped it into the cream mixture, repeating the step for the other beans.

The smell of the vanilla suddenly filled my nose and I knew it was a scent I had become very familiar with.

"It smells like you." I said my senses lost in the thought of how good she smelled.

"Yeah, I kind of have a thing for it and use vanilla body wash." She smiled up at me.

"We next strain the mixture to make sure we get out any sugar lumps that didn't dissolve. Then we fill each tin about ¾ of the way full. Normally you would use ramekins, but since I didn't think Esme would think to set you up with those, these tins will work. They go in a water bath and then into the oven."

She put the tins into the casserole dish and poured water about half way up the sides and put the dish into the oven, setting the timer.

"And that my sweet Edward is how you make Crème Brule. See it was easy." She was grinning from ear to ear, very proud of herself for showing me.

"It was something alright." I said. My thoughts suddenly flooded back to just how sexy my sweet Bella really was. "Speaking of baths, I think I'll go jump in the shower and get the eggs out of my hair."

"I'm sorry." She looked up at me with a grimace.

"I'm not!" I said leaning in and kissing her gently before stepping away to the shower.

As I was getting dressed after my shower, I could hear Bella's voice in the next room. At first I thought she was talking to me or someone else, but as I was about to say something I realized she was singing.

I opened the door and saw that she had her buds in and was listening to her iPod while she was chopping the tomatoes. The room smelled amazing. The basil and garlic she had already chopped and pressed were in a pile waiting to go into the pan.

She was singing the last lines of _Uprising_ and swaying to the music while she was chopping.

Her mood suddenly became quiet as the next song started and she began to sing again.

I didn't recognize the song she was signing, but her voice, it was amazing. It wasn't just that her voice was beautiful; it was the soulful way in which she was singing. There was so much emotion coming off of her, it was overwhelming. She wasn't sad, she was sultry, she wasn't melancholy, she was thoughtful. I had to find that song, find out who sang it to see if they did the same justice to it that Bella did. The words she sang were haunting, the look on her face stunning.

_Have you ever wished for an endless night?_

_Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight_

_Have you ever…held your breathe… and asked yourself will it ever get better then tonight._

The sound she made when she held her breathe, it was…there are no words to describe how that sound made me feel. But I knew, knew without a doubt, I would do everything I could to make her make that sound again.

I stood there watching her as she prepared dinner, lost in the music and remembered one of the lines she had sung.

_Have you ever closed your eyes and trusted, just trusted? _

When I kissed her earlier it was so sudden. I just needed to kiss her at that moment and so I grabbed her and kissed her with such great desire. I shouldn't have done that, it could have scared her. But it didn't, she just closed her eyes and let me in, she just trusted me. She had always trusted me. She told me that night, my touch never made her nervous, never made her flinch. She trusted me.

"I love you Bella." I said knowing she wouldn't hear me with the buds in but needed to say it at that moment no matter what. I would say it again, soon, this time so that she heard it.

The timer went off on the stove and she pulled the buds out of her ears to take out the Crème Brule. I walked out of the bathroom hoping she wouldn't notice that I had been standing there watching her.

"Feeling better?" she asked as she set the Brule down on the counter.

"Much." I answered doubting she understood the full depth of my answer.

I looked at the dish with dessert in it and noticed something different. "When does the Brule get the crunchy top?"

"Well we have to let it get cold in the fridge first, then right before we eat it, we will sprinkle sugar on top and then stick it under the broiler for about a minute to let it caramelize and harden. Ideally it works better if you have a torch, but since we don't we'll have to use the broiler."

"Bella, how do you know so much about this? I thought you wanted to be a writer, but the way you are with food you could be a chef."

"I do want to be a writer and maybe one day I'll be a food writer or create cooking shows, I'm not really sure right now. But I have been in the kitchen with mom since I was a little girl. She taught me a lot of things, and the rest I have picked up on my own. I'm just a foodie I guess!"

_How can you fall more in love with someone?_ I thought to myself knowing that I was with each moment I spent with her.

The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing the sauce and Chicken Parm. I helped out as best I could and she never got frustrated with me. It's not that I can't cook, but there was such a grace to what she did and so much love that went into what she was doing that it left me a bit intimated.

Intimated or not though I loved every minute of it. Every moment in the kitchen I felt like we were growing closer. We talked, really talked about everything, just like we had so many times in the hospital. But each time just felt more personal.

We talked about her going back to class tomorrow for the first time since the attack and how nervous she was about that. We talked about her dad not telling her his concerns about the son of a bitch who attacked her and that she was grateful he trusted her enough to let her stay. We talked about my parents and how much she loved them. As painful as the conversation got at times she never seemed nervous though, never seemed like she was going to go over the edge. Cooking really did relax her.

We were deep in conversation when Emmett came booming in. I had sent a text to Emmett and Jasper both telling them not to eat that we had a surprise.

"So what is this surprise…oh my God it smells like Heaven in here." Emmett said. "Bella you cooked!"

"I did. I wanted to thank you guys for all you have done."

"Hell Bella Luna, you can thank me anytime like this." He said walking over to her and spinning her around in typical Emmett fashion.

"Emmett, leave that poor girl alone. You will make her sick." Rose said sounding very much like a mother. "Bella it smells amazing in here." She said smiling at her.

"Thank you Rose."

"Bella, you made Chicken Parm just for me!" Alice cooed as her and Jasper came in.

"Of course I did my sweet, nothing but the best for you." She said with a huge smile on her face that mirrored the one on Alice's. Those two really did have their own wave length.

Over dinner Jasper, Emmett and I discussed arrangements for the week for Bella to never be alone while she was out and about on campus. The only time one of us could not be with her was on Tuesdays and Thursday when she had a late afternoon class. The three of us were already in classes when she needed to leave. We sat there trying to figure out whom to get to walk with her when Rose spoke.

"I can do it." She offered.

"Rose, no offense, but we want a guy with her." Emmett said.

"Emmett you know as well as I do that I could kick your ass and probably should after that comment. Do you really think I'm going to let some asshole mess with me or Bella?" Emmett looked down at his feet knowing he had screwed up.

"Rose darling… you know that's not what I mean... I know you kick ass…I was just in macho mode and thinking guys only." He said trying to talk his way out of his mess.

"Are you sure Rose, I wouldn't want to put you out or anything." Bella asked.

"Of course I'm sure Bella." She smiled back at her. All insecurities that Rose had about Bella seemed to be gone now and she seemed genuinely interested in being friends with her.

When it came time for dessert, I helped Bella with the sugar top coat and then we passed out the little tins. The room fell silent as everyone took their first bites and looks of sheer bliss took over their faces.

It was smooth, creamy and luscious. All the words Bella had used to describe the taste and texture of it.

"Fuck me Bella this is amazing. Edward you are just plain stupid if you don't marry this beautiful girl right away."

"Emmett!" Rose said, smacking him on the arm for his comment.

"What?"

"You're right Bella; it does have the most amazing mouthfeel." I beamed at her, proud of myself for using her word and at her for making something so amazing.

"Edward?" Emmett said. "How dare you sound like a perv when talking to my little sister!"

"I'm not being a perv Emmett, it's an actual culinary term."

"Seriously?" Emmett asked looking at Bella.

"It sure is, I was teaching Edward several new terms today while he helped me cook." The smile on Bella's face could have provided electricity to a small city for weeks.

"Well what pervert came up with that?" Emmett asked sounding a bit disgusted. Everyone in the room laughed.

Emmett and Jasper cleaned the dishes and kitchen while Bella, Alice and Rose went to their room to get some clothes for Bella. She was going to stay with me again in hopes that she would get a good night's sleep so she was ready to jump back into classes. Also our first classes were in the same building so it made sense for her to stay with me.

I knew as the head RA I wasn't setting a very good example, but when it came to Bella's well being, rules be damned!

We said our goodbyes to the others and set about getting ready for bed, before settling in and watching TV for a bit.

After Bella's third yawn in a row, I turned the TV and lights off and climbed into bed, pulling her into my arms. Her head tucked into my shoulder.

"Night my Bella Luna."

Night Edward."

"Edward."

"Yes love."

"I love you too."

"You heard me earlier?" I asked not believing it. I wanted her to hear the truth, but not necessarily like that.

"I did, I also knew you were watching me."

"Bella, I'm…sorry…I…shouldn't…"

"It's ok, Edward. I really didn't mind."

"But you hate being the center of attention, I shouldn't have done that."

"It's ok darling. I kind of like being the center of your attention."

"Why didn't you say anything then?"

"It just seemed like something you needed to say and I didn't want to break the moment you were having. But I love you too and I just wanted you to know."

"I love you Bella." I said pulling her closer to me to kiss her.

Just like the earlier kiss, this one was filled with so much passion and emotion. Our mouths opened fully to each other, our tongues in deep embrace and our bodies as close together as we could get with clothes on. We spent several hours just kissing before falling asleep in each other's arms.

In my sexually short life I have had sex with a handful of women, but none of those experiences were ever as intimate as that night kissing Bella.


	16. Chapter 16

**SM owns all things Twilight**

Thank you all for the love!

**

* * *

****Chapter Sixteen**

_Bella_

_He was pulling at the buttons on my shirt, his lips kissing down my neck._

_Bella, Bella, Bella_

_Stop saying my name!_

_My Bella baby, I have wanted this for so long. _

_His lips were moving down my neck to my shoulders to my exposed chest._

_Oh Bella, my baby Bella. Bella, Bella, Bella._

_Please stop! Stop saying my name!_

"Bella!"

"No! Stop! Stop saying my name!"

"Bella! It's me. Bella Luna! It's me, it's Alice, please wake up!"

My eyes shot open. I was sitting up in my bed, sweat and tears falling down my face. Alice was holding my arms in her hands, trying to wake me up.

"Alice? Oh Alice, I'm so sorry!"

"It's ok Bella sweetie, it's ok." I could feel the tears running down her cheeks as she pulled me into her.

"No it isn't Alice, I'm so so sorry!"

This was the third night in a row of me waking up screaming from my dreams. Dreams that haunted me several times each night. The last good night of sleep I had gotten had been Sunday night when I stayed with Edward.

We both knew I couldn't spend every night in his room, even though we both wanted that and he insisted on it. But he was the head RA and one of the things he was suppose to do was make sure the rest of us followed the rules and one of the rules was no overnight visits by persons of the opposite sex. In fact that was the rule, word for word. It wouldn't look good for the head RA to break that rule once which he had already done, but to do it every night was pushing it.

So now my dreams were back, and they were getting worse. He just kept saying my name over and over again. As he moved his hands and his awful mouth over my body he kept saying my name. I was really starting to hate my name! And no matter how hard I tried, I still could not make out his face; he never had a face.

Poor Alice had to deal with my dreams too. My screams woke her up every time. She had to shake me awake every time and every time she held me as I cried until I was calmed down. Tonight she was crying to. I knew this was killing her, the pain I was going through, she felt it too. She always felt my pain. Then add the fact she wasn't getting any sleep, it only made it worse for her.

"Sweetie, it's ok. You don't have to say you're sorry. I'm here love; just know that I'm here." She pulled out of her hold on me and kissed my cheek. "Can I get you anything?"

"No." I said moving around her to get out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" she asked surprised by my actions.

"The bathroom."

"I'll go with you."

"Alice, he isn't going to be on a women's hall at…" looking over at the clock I groaned when I saw what time it was "...2:25 in the morning. Go back to bed please. One of us should at least be sleeping."

She started to say something again when I put my hand up to stop her. I know she meant well, but I just wanted to be alone for a minute to splash some water on my face and hope it would wash away the dreams.

I stood there looking at myself in the mirror, ice cold water dripping down my face. My skin was paler than usual which made the purple circles under my eyes even darker. I had tried everything that had been recommended; music, warm milk, calming tea, yoga, it had been a very busy three days and nothing seemed to help me stay asleep, nothing seemed to keep away the dreams. Nothing that is except Edward.

As nice as it was to sleep in his arms, I knew I couldn't spend every night that way. There was the whole RA thing and the fact that Thanksgiving break was coming up in a few days. Classes ended on Tuesday and Edward was going home to Chicago. I would have five nights away from his arms. It felt like a life time already, a life time that would be made so much worse if I allowed myself to need him every night.

I had to try and figure a way around the dreams.

I went back to the room, hoping Alice would be asleep, but should have known better.

"Bella are you ok?" she asked sitting on her bed, her head resting on her knees, her legs tucked into her chest. She was holding her cell phone in her hand.

"Alice, I'm fine. You don't need to call Edward."

She smiled up at me as if she had no clue what I was talking about. I knew for a fact she did. I knew that she had either called him or sent him a text the previous nights when I woke up screaming. Monday night he came up to our room to calm me down, but I asked him not to do that again. I really wanted him there; I just didn't want to get him in trouble.

"Alice sweetie, go back to sleep. Your eight o'clock will be here before you know it and you've got that exam in design, you want to be rested for that I know."

"Oh please, I can do that in my sleep." She giggled settling herself back under her covers.

I crawled back into bed and laid there as quietly as I could to try and convince Alice I had gone back to sleep, hoping she would do the same. I started to think back on the week with the hopes of drifting back to sleep with pleasant dreams.

True to their word to dad, Edward, Emmett and Jasper escorted me everywhere I went. The only exception was the one class that Rose walked me to. It was like I had my own personal security detail. Luckily no one really noticed it, as it appeared I was just walking with my friends.

My return to classes went smoother then I had hoped for. The professors all greeted me back, but didn't make a big deal, as I had managed to keep up with my assignments and was able to ease back into class without missing a beat. A few people asked what happened and I would just say I had gotten very sick and was in the hospital for the week. I was able to cover my scars with turtlenecks and long pants so there was no second guessing my answer. The few who did know like Mike and Angela were really good not to say anything at all.

One good thing from my security detail was the individual time I had gotten to spend with Jasper and Rose. I couldn't be more grateful to Jasper for what he had done for me at the game and I finally got to know Rose. I could see why Emmett loved her so much. It was nice to get to know them beyond Alice and Emmett and I felt like they were friends, true friends now and not just my best friend and surrogate big brothers other half's.

It also gave me a chance to spend more time with Edward. When I wasn't in class, waiting with the others in his room for him, or trying to sleep in my own room we were together.

It still made me blush every time I thought about him telling me he loved me. I felt like the luckiest person in the world to be loved by him and the best thing was I knew he really did love me. I could hear it in his voice and feel it in his kisses. Oh his kisses, they were everything in the world to me.

Tomorrow night we were going out for our first _official_ date. Despite spending all of our free time together and me actually waking up in his arms several times, we hadn't had an _official _date, which Edward said bothered him very much. Being a Friday I knew we could end the date in his room with me in his arms, a repeat of Sunday night.

Falling asleep, kissing him, engulfed in his arms was heaven. I could do that for the rest of my life. I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. Well I wanted to actually do more, but I knew I wasn't ready for that yet, not with the cloud hanging over my head. I knew beyond a doubt, I wanted Edward to be my first. I was thankful I hadn't given into any of the pleas from the guys I briefly dated in high school, that I was strong enough to tell them no. And I was so very thankful that I had not been raped. The thought of that being how I lost my virginity was so upsetting and my heart broke for those girls and women whose unfortunate fates that had been.

I wanted to be with Edward, for us to be as close as two people could possibly be. The things his touch, his smile, his kiss did to my body were just incredible. I never thought it was possible to feel the way he made me feel with just a touch. I thought it was just something you read about in books or saw in movies, but it was real, oh so very real. If his kiss on my lips could do that to me, I knew his kiss on the rest of body would bring me to tears for I would not be able to control my feelings or emotions.

Unfortunately for us, the idea of there being some sick son of bitch out there stalking me was always on my mind and I know it was on Edward's. I could see the toll it was taking on him. He tried to hide it, but I knew he was worried. When he left me either at a class or with the others, I could see the worry work its way into his face. Worry that I was sure didn't disappear until we were together again. The smile he would get was just breath taking when we were back with each other.

I last remember the clock saying 3:30 before I drifted back to sleep, thoughts of my sweet Edward lulling me there.

Alice's damn alarm clock going off at 6:30 broke my finally dreamless sleep. I felt so bad for her when she jumped and knocked the clock off the table trying to shut it up. I could hear her trying to hold in her grumbles. I hated this, hated that my dreams were screwing with her like this.

Normally on Thursday's I could roll over and go back to sleep or at least try as I didn't have class until 11:30 on Tuesdays and Thursday's but I had an appointment with Kate this morning at 9:00. Kate was the counselor who had been assigned to work with me. I had met with her once already and she seemed pretty nice. But I was never one who liked to talk about myself and it was hard to open up. Our first session was somewhat easy; she just asked basic questions and tried to get to know me. I knew today's was going to be harder. She would want more details about the attack and about my dreams. I had talked about the attack since it happened with my friends and family, which wasn't easy at all, but with someone I barely knew it made me feel like I was back in the hospital that first night all over again.

I got up out of bed and gathered my stuff to take down to the bathroom. I knew there was no point in trying to go back to sleep now, too much was running through my mind. I had a couple of hours to kill and knew seeing Edward beforehand would be what I needed.

_Good morning handsome. Want to grab breakfast at the café before your first class? B _

I wasn't sure if he would be awake yet or not. He was going to walk me to my appointment with Kate and then go to class but we hadn't planned on meeting until 8:30. I knew he was hoping I would sleep in.

_Good morning Bella Luna! Of course I would love to have breakfast with you! E_

_Great! Going to jump in the shower, meet you in an hour! B_

_I'll meet you at the elevators! Love you! E _

An hour later my beautiful haven was standing by the elevator waiting for me. He looked so amazing, standing there in his blue jeans and yellow long sleeved t-shirt, his jacket and book bag slung over his shoulder. He was one of those guys who looked good no matter what he was wearing.

His eyes lit up when he saw me and he opened his arms for me to walk into. "Good morning beautiful." He said closing his arms around me.

"Good morning handsome!" I said nuzzling my nose into his neck, breathing in his scent.

He pulled back to kiss me and I could see the beautiful smile on his face pull back, concern washing over him as he took in the exhaustion that my eyes gave away, despite my best efforts to cover them. He didn't say anything thankful. He just leaned in and gave me one of his amazing kisses.

We made our way down to the café and I told him what I wanted and went and sat down in a booth towards the back waiting for him to return with our food. One thing I had discovered from us sharing several meals here was that we both liked booths. It allowed us to be as close together as we could be.

After our little tiff on Sunday about him paying for the groceries, Edward and I had come to an understanding about those types of things in our relationship. He understood it drove me crazy and I understood that he was going to do it anyway.

It was Esme who actually helped me come to terms with it. She and I had talked either on the phone or through e-mail every day since they went back home on Sunday. I told her about my frustration with her son and she just laughed. She told me that Carlisle was the same way and that it really bothered her when they first started dating, that they argued about it quite a bit. She said after awhile she realized there were other things that she could be stubborn about and Carlisle gave in to her because she allowed him that one thing. She knew Edward was the exact same way; he was so much like Carlisle which wasn't a bad thing as far as either of us could tell.

So I let him have his chivalry. For everything that he had done for me, I could give him his chivalry.

"Do you want to talk about your dream?" he asked as I took a bite of my pancakes.

"Did Alice call you again?" I frustratingly asked.

"Don't be mad at her, I asked her to."

"Edward, it's bad enough my dreams are keeping her up, I don't want it doing the same to you."

"What about what they are doing to you Bella? I know you try to hide the purple under your eyes, but it doesn't work. Sweetie I am so worried about you. It kills me to know that you are not sleeping. That your dreams are haunted by that bastard! I would give anything to take them away. I wish you would just stay with me so you could get some sleep." He put his head in his hands, trying to hide his face from me. I knew he didn't want me to comfort him; that he wanted to be the one to take care of me, but I hated to see him like this.

I put my hands under his arms to pull his face towards me. When he finally looked up at me I leaned in and gently kissed his lips. "Tomorrow night, after our first date ok my love?" I knew it was a consolation prize, but I didn't want to have this discussion again.

"Bella…"

"And Saturday night too if you behave yourself." I said cutting him off and winking at him.

He slowly nodded his head and leaned in to kiss me before turning back to his breakfast. This was a stubborn win for me.

We finished breakfast and headed over to the Health and Sciences building where Kate's office was and Edward's first class was.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked pulling me into his body.

"As ready as I can be." I smiled trying to hide my dread.

"So you are going to hang out with Jasper after Kate and then Rose until your 11:30 and then back to my room with Emmett right?" Edward sounded like an assistant spouting off my itinerary for the day.

"Yes Mr. Cullen and after you have finished my schedule for the day could you please be sure to finish typing my English paper for me." I smirked back at him.

"Smart ass!" he whispered under his breath.

"By nature!" I said letting him know I heard him.

I could feel him shaking his head at me as he pulled back and looked down at me.

"I love you Bella." I could see the concern washing back over his face.

"I love you too Edward." I smiled back at him before stepping on my toes and kissing his lips.

He pulled me further up into him and deepened his kiss, opening his mouth, his tongue gently sliding in between my lips, seeking out my own to caress. I lost myself in him when he kissed me like that. It was if he consumed everything that I was. We were one at that moment.

Our need for air was the only thing that could break our connection. He rested his head on mine, his eyes closed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Damn Bella!" he panted. I loved to hear him say that after a kiss. It let me know he felt the same way I did.

The sound of Kate opening her door broke our connection even more.

"Good morning Bella." She beamed, sounding too much like Alice in the mornings.

"Morning Kate, I would like you to meet my boyfriend Edward." He looked at me with the biggest grin on his face. I could tell he liked me calling him my boyfriend.

"Oh Edward, it such a pleasure to meet you." She said her hand extended to Edward to shake.

"It's nice to meet you too." He responded taking her hand.

"I'll make sure she is ok Edward and that she won't leave until Jasper comes to get her."

Jasper, being a Psychology Major, had Kate as an advisor and he had already informed her of my security detail.

"Thank you Kate." He said before turning to me and kissing me gently on the lips. "I'll see you later ok?"

"Bye" I whispered as I watched him walk away.

"Bella, you know I would never say anything about our discussions to Jasper right?" Kate asked me as she closed the door to her office pointing me to two chairs in front of her desk.

"Of course Kate." I said surprised she would worry about that.

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't worried about anything. I want you to feel free to talk to me about anything and know that it will not leave this room unless you want it too." She sat down in the chair beside the one I was already sitting in.

"I also want you to know that I have read the police report, the campus report and the notes from the hospital. I am well aware of the details of the attack so I won't ask you to recount those, but please feel free to talk about them at anytime you need to ok?"

I nodded my head a bit relieved I wouldn't have to give another word for word account of that night again.

"What I would like to talk about though are your dreams." My relief was gone.

"Did you have one last night?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Bella you don't have to be so polite with me."

"I do, its habit, just the way my parents raised me." I replied with a bit more snark then I ever had. _Where did that come from?_

"Well I guess I cannot argue with that can I?" She softly laughed as she reached over and patted my hand letting me know it was ok.

"Would you tell me about your dream?"

I let out a deep breath and pulled my legs into my chest. "It started with him calling my name. He tore at my shirt, trying to get it off and kissed me. He kept saying my name over and over again, telling me he had waited so long for this moment. His hands and his mouth were all over my face, neck and chest and he just kept saying my name and calling me his Bella. I begged him to stop, begged him to shut up." I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks and I pulled my legs in tighter to my chest.

"Can you see his face?" Kate asked as she got up to get some tissue from her desk. She handed it to me and sat back down.

I shook my head no as I tried to dry my tears but my answer only made me cry more.

"That bothers you doesn't it, not seeing his face?"

"Yes." I whispered.

"Do you think the dreams would stop if you had seen his face?"

"Probably not." I answered knowing truthful they wouldn't.

"Then why do you want to see his face?"

"Because then I would know."

"What would you know?"

"I would know who he is, what he looks like and whether or not he was following me, watching me."

"Do you think knowing he was there would help or do you think it would cause another panic attack?"

"I would like to think it would help, that I would be strong enough to confront him or at least point him out in a line up…"

"But?" she asked sensing my hesitancy.

"But I'm afraid I would have another panic attack."

"Bella you do understand that the attack you suffered Saturday was to be expected given the trauma right? It doesn't mean you are weak. Something very stressful happened to you and that was your body and minds way of dealing with the stress."

"That's what Carlisle and Jasper kept telling me, but it still makes me feel a little weak."

"Bella, please don't think that. It is not a sign of weakness at all. It is a sign of duress, a defense mechanism. Bella what you did the night of the attack, the way in which you fought back, that was far from weak, but you cannot let that be what you measure everything else by. Your body filled with adrenaline and helped you do what you needed to do to survive. And Saturday your body did what it needed to do by shutting out the fear you felt when he brushed up against you."

Her words made me shutter at the thought of him touching me. If I could have pulled my legs into me anymore I would have.

Kate sensing my stress changed the subject slightly.

"Were the detectives able to get anything from the surveillance videos?"

"No, there wasn't a camera near the place we were standing at. They scanned all the footage and found one time when I crossed the camera but they were unable to really see if anyone was paying particular attention to me or following me. There were just too many people."

When Sam and Jake told us that I felt so bad for them because I could tell it really bothered them, bothered them that they were unable to find him, unable to stop him.

"Are you worried they won't find him?"

"I have full faith that Jake and Sam will do all they can to find him, but I know it could be a long shot." I hated the idea of him being out there, of them not finding him, hated the idea of him finding me again or worse hurting someone else.

"Why don't we change the subject a bit?" Kate asked.

"Ok" I answered hoping the topic would be better.

"Tell me about Edward." She said with a smile on her face.

"Edward, well Edward is perfect." I answered her, letting go of my legs, putting them down on the floor.

"Really?" she asked raising an eyebrow to me.

"Well as close to perfect as one can be. He saved my life, twice. He has taken such good care of me since this happened. He loves me, worries about me and well he makes me very happy."

She smiled at the change in my demeanor.

"Was he your boyfriend before the attack?"

"No, but I had a major crush on him and I found out afterwards that he felt the same way about me."

"So you two never tried to date before?"

"No I guess we were both too shy to do or say anything."

"And afterwards?"

"Given what we have been through together, shyness kind of went out the window."

"Yeah, I would say you two overcame that pretty much as soon as he found you."

"He always seems to know what I need without me saying anything. Almost like he can read my mind." She again raised her eyebrow questioning me. "Of course I know he can't, that's just the best way I can think of to explain it. He just seems to know."

"You said he loves you, how do you feel about him?"

"I love him with all that I am. He is one of the good things that came out of this nightmare."

"One of them?" Kate asked surprised.

"Yeah my family seems to have really grown because of this. I always had Alice and Emmett, their parents and mine. But now I have Edward, Rose, Jasper and of course Edwards' parents."

"And that makes you happy?"

"Very."

"So tell me about them."

We spent the rest of the session talking about my extended family which was a nice change of pace from how it started. Although we ended it on a good note, the session left me drained.

When it was over, Jasper was waiting outside of Kate's office for me. We walked over to the lounge area of the building waiting for Rose.

"You ok?" Jasper asked.

"About being baby sat or about my session with Kate?" Jasper laughed and I couldn't help but smile. I felt bad about my answer; it wasn't like me to be so snippy.

"I know it's a pain in the ass darling, but we just want to make sure you are ok."

"I know you do Jasper. But it just goes against who I am. You know stubborn hard headed me. I'm sure Alice has shared with you her frustration with me when I get that way."

"Yeah she may have mentioned something." He laughed again with a light in his eyes. He always seemed to get that light when he talked about Alice.

"I'm glad you and Alice are together. She's happy and believe it or not you calm her."

"That's what Emmett tells me too, but I find it hard to believe this is calm Alice." He said shaking his head.

"Oh believe me Jasper this is calm."

We sat there quietly as we each got lost in our thoughts.

"It'll get better Bella." Jasper said breaking me from my thoughts.

"What will?"

"The dreams, the fears, all of it. It will get better. I won't lie, Bella, it will take some time, but you have to believe, that it will get better."

"I sure hope so Jasper; I hate what this is doing to Alice and Edward."

"They love you, they would do anything for you, we all would you know that right?"

"I know you would, and that means the world to me, but I hate seeing what it's doing to all of you."

"Bella sweetie, you know one of the things we love about you is the fact you care more about others then you do yourself, but for once would please stop worrying about us and start thinking about yourself?" He was smiling at me, but I knew he was trying to make a point.

Luckily Rose walked up before I had to answer or before Jasper could say anything else. I knew everyone just wanted me to focus on myself, but that wasn't my nature and there were only so many ways I could say that.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Rose" we both said at the same.

Jasper got up to leave for his class and leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. "Think about what I just said Bella, for Alice and Edward." Damn him for putting it that way. I smiled back at him and watched him walk away.

"What was that about?" Rose asked.

"Jasper was playing shrink." I said hoping not to get into the conversation with Rose. I knew she held the same opinion, they all did.

Thankful she just let it go. My lack of sleep was starting to get the best of me and I was afraid I would say something snarky to Rose and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

We sat there for a little bit and then headed out to our classes. It took all that I had to stay awake in my Economics class. I was dragging and it was getting worse. I really needed to sleep and I didn't think I would make it until tomorrow night.

Emmett met me after class and we walked back to his room to wait for Edward.

"How about we stop by the café and get some lunch?" Emmett asked.

"Sure, I could use some caffeine."

"Bella, you don't need caffeine, you need to sleep."

"Yeah well how the hell do you purpose I do that Emmett?" I snapped at him. The look of caring concern on his face suddenly became worried concern.

"Em, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that." I could feel tears starting to pool up in my eyes.

Emmett pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. "It's ok little one. I know this isn't you. I just wish I knew what to do to make it better."

"Me too Em, me too." I whispered as I tried to fight back my tears.

"Let's go back to the room, I'll order us something from the deli."

We headed back to the room and I settled into the couch while Emmett ordered lunch. I pulled out my Econ book and tried to read while I was waiting for lunch to arrive but I kept nodding off. After the last head jerk, I threw my book down on the coffee table and got up to go to the bathroom. I hoped splashing cold water on my face would help me wake up. Emmett started to say something to me, but changed his mind.

The cold water felt good against my skin. It left me a little refreshed but not what I had hoped for. Once again I stared at myself in the mirror; the purple under my eyes deeper. I didn't like who was staring back at me. The hollow looking eyes and the pale shallow skin. This wasn't me; this wasn't who I was or who I wanted to be! The worse this got the harder it was going to be on the others, I could see it already.

I pulled myself together and opened the bathroom door and there he was. There was my beautiful haven. His usual smile was gone, replaced with worry over me. Jasper was right, I need to think about myself for once and I needed to do it for Alice and Edward.

I rushed into his arms and buried my head in his chest. "Edward, can I stay with you tonight?"

"Of course you can sweetie, of course you can." He answered as his body sighed with relief.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter will be a bit happier. The first official date!

Reviews, comments and questions are always welcomed!


	17. Chapter 17

**SM owns all things Twilight**

Thank you all for the love.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

I laid there watching her sleeping peacefully. The beautiful color was coming back to her face. The purple under her eyes was still there, but had lightened considerably.

I was thankful that she asked me to stay, thankful that she had slept the whole night without as much as a whimper, thankful that I was able to lay here with her in my arms watching her sleep.

I found myself overwhelmed by her, by the love I felt for her. I saw in her the same things dad had described about mom. My whole life I wanted to be lucky enough to have half of what my parents had and now, here, lying in my arms was all that they had and more. She was my world now. I knew I was blessed to have her in my life, blessed to be here at this moment. With all that happened and all that could have happened, she was here, safe in my arms and for that I was thankful.

I could lay here for hours watching her; I had laid here for hours watching her. I didn't wake her to let her know it was after 8 and she needed to get up to go to class. I didn't wake her to say it was after 10 and we had both missed our class.

She hadn't slept in almost a week and I knew she needed all that she could get. She had fallen asleep on the couch at 9 last night. I woke her briefly at 11 to move us to the bed and she fell quickly back to sleep.

It was now 11:30 in the morning and she had more or less been asleep for the past fourteen hours. I listened to her breathe and gently checked her pulse from time to time to make sure she was ok. Both were calm, both were normal. She was just sleeping, something she needed so very badly and I was so grateful she had finally allowed herself to get.

"Edward." She said as she nuzzled herself into my body more.

"I'm here beautiful."

"I could get use to this." She said kissing just underneath my jaw.

"Me too." I smiled and kissed the top of her head. I didn't want to just get use to this; I wanted this for the rest of my life.

"What time is it?"

"It's 11:30 sweetie."

She shot up from our embrace and looked at me disoriented. "At night?"

"No sweetie in the morning. You've been asleep all this time."

"Why didn't you wake me, I missed my Speech class." The look of bliss that had been on her face just moments ago was quickly fading away.

"Bella it's ok, you needed the sleep."

"But Edward, I have missed so much class already, I really cannot afford to miss any more." She was panicked now looking around the room as if she was trying to figure out what to do.

"Bella Luna, look at me please." I took her face in my hands and pulled her to look at me. "Sweetie I know of at least three Dr's who would be more than happy to give you a note to excuse you from class today. You needed this, your body and mind needed this. You feel better than you did yesterday don't you?"

She sat there for a minute looking down at the bed. I could tell she was thinking about everything that had happened in the past week.

"Yes." She said shyly as if she didn't want to admit it to herself.

"See, it was worth missing speech class."

A smile began to grow on her lips as her gaze came back to rest on my face.

"Thank you Edward."

"Anytime my love, anything for you." She put her hand on my face and I leaned into her touch. The look of love on her face was so genuine and pure. She loved me. She really loved me; like I loved her and that made me the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

We sat there staring at each other when a grumble from her stomach broke our trance. Her face turned the most amazing shade of pink and she lowered her head into my chest. A tiny giggle escaped her lips.

"Lunch?" I said stifling a laugh, trying not to embarrass her even more.

"Uh uh." She said with her head still on my chest.

"Well then, let's get up and get dressed. The sun is shining and I think we need to get outside."

It is surprising how little things can make you feel great, waking up to a sunny day, thoughts of a first date, not having anything in particular to do that day, a good night's sleep. For some these might just be another day, but for me they were everything and Bella's night of uninterrupted sleep was like winning the lottery.

We decided to venture out to the Public Market to grab a bite to eat and walk around. I never found the idea of a farmer's market to be particularly interesting before Bella, but walking around with her and watching her explore the different vendors gave me a whole new appreciation for them.

Bella moved slowly to each of the booths examining their goods. She tasted samples, touched produce and lifted various things to her nose to take in the scents. It was like she was in sensory heaven, all of them taking control of where she went. She talked to the different vendors about their goods, discussing where they came from, the best ways to cook them and learning the history of certain things.

I found it very interesting that she never seemed to notice the way the male vendors looked at her, watching her every move as she talked to them and explored their goods. She was mesmerizing to watch, the smile on her face, the passion that exuded from her as she talked. I wasn't the only one who saw it. Several flirted blatantly with her, but she never paid them any attention. Instead it was all on the products she was sampling or on me.

Every time she tried something new she would turn to me with a huge smile on her face offering some of the goods to me. She fed me with her hands, smiling when my lips grazed her fingers. Watching her light up like she did, watching her reach a level of happiness that almost looked orgasmic was so unbelievably sexy. It was like watching her during my Crème Brule lesson but heightened tenfold.

If I live a hundred years I would never tire of watching her like this. It was so beautiful and brought out her spirit even more.

She became particular excited when we came across a vendor who sold different extracts and many different kinds of vanilla beans. She spoke with the owner for twenty minutes about how vanilla orchids are hand pollinated because the flowers only open once for a day before the bloom dies. They discussed the different regions where the flowers grew and how Tahitian Vanilla beans have a milder flavor as compared to Madagascar Vanilla Beans. It should have been a boring lecture on the virtues of vanilla, but for Bella, I could tell it was the most amazing thing she had ever learned. And watching her enthusiasm made it interesting for me.

While Bella and the owner of the stand smelled the different extracts, I quietly asked the other attendant to put together a sampling of beans and extracts for me. I knew Bella would never allow me to buy these things for her while she was there but I had to, had to give her something that brought as much pleasure as this did for her.

Bella was in heaven and could have stayed there all day, but the buzzing of her phone brought her back to reality. The beautiful smile on her face slowly faded and she shook her head.

"What's wrong?" I asked suddenly very concerned about the news.

"It's Alice. She is demanding my return to the room so she can play dress up."

"Dress up?"

"It's best not to ask. I guess we should head back."

She started to walk towards the car when I grabbed her hand to stop her. When she turned back to look at me, I pulled her into my arms and wrapped them around her moving them gently into her hair. I pulled her head back and brought my lips to hers. I could feel her melting into me as she opened her mouth and let her tongue glide gently across my lips, seeking entrance into mine. I opened up to her and our tongues met in the most intimate of embraces. She tasted like apricot, brie and prosciutto. She tasted like love.

"Thank you Bella." I panted as we pulled apart needing air.

"For what darling?" She asked surprised by my words.

"For one of the best days of my life."

"Mine too." She said before the buzz of her phone caused her to groan.

She pulled her phone out and shook her head as she looked at the screen before showing it to me.

_Now Bella!_

Ten seconds later my phone began to buzz

_Now Edward! _

"Alice!" we both said at the same time shaking our heads and headed home.

I reached Bella's door at 6 pm and as I lifted my hand to knock, I heard Bella yelling at Alice.

"I said no heels Alice; I will end up on my ass!"

"Fine! But you have to at least wear platforms or your pants will drag." I could just see Alice stomping her foot.

I knew I needed to rescue poor Bella so I proceeded with my knock, trying to hold in my laughter.

Alice opened the door and the irritation I knew was there a moment ago was replaced with her usual energy.

"Oh Edward, flowers, how sweet is that." She cooed while looking at the blush pink orchid plant I was holding.

She moved back to let me in and Bella came into view. She was absolutely breath taking. She was wearing a deep blue wrap shirt that clung to her body, showing her curves. The neckline of the shirt was cut just low enough to give a hint of cleavage but not revealing too much. Paired with light gray dress pants the contrasting colors made her complexion look like silk. She was wearing her hair down, draped over her shoulder covering the scar on her neck. Her makeup was very light and natural looking but her lips were deep red. Such a beautiful deep red that all I could think about was taking them into my own.

I was lost in the beauty of her, just standing there, awe struck. Alice cleared her throat breaking my trance and the loveliest shade of pink colored Bella's cheeks.

"I…I…know they are not vanilla orchids, but the color reminded me of you."

"It's just perfect Edward." She said walking over to me, taking the plant and smelling the flower with her eyes closed.

"Bella, you are stunning." I said.

"Thank you!" Alice chimed in.

We both looked at her and could not help but smile at the ball of energy.

"Now get out of here you crazy kids and enjoy your first date!" She scooted both of us out the door and as she closed it behind her we could hear her giggles!

"So where are you taking me?" She asked as I held the car door open for her.

"Well first we are off to Il Terrazzo Carmine for dinner." I closed the door and walked slowly over to the driver's side. I knew saying first and then not revealing anymore information would drive her crazy.

When I slide into the seat she had turned her body to face me and was sitting there with her arms crossed over her chest.

"First?" she said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Yes, dinner first." I answered not giving her anymore information.

"Second?" The hint was growing to full blown irritation.

"You will just have to wait and see."

"Edward…"

"Bella, do you trust me?" I asked cutting her off.

"Of course I do Edward." She answered

"Then please hush and just enjoy the evening."

She sat there for a moment, I guessed trying to figure out whether she should argue or just accept. She turned back to face the windshield and relaxed her arms back to her side. I could see a small smile beginning to grace her lips.

"Good" I said as I held my hand out for her to take. When she took mine I figured she was going to accept.

Over dinner we talked about our day at the market and Bella's face lit up again with the memory of all of the different things she had tried and experienced. She shared a bite of her Gnocchi Sorrentina with me and when she tasted the Roasted Tomato Risotto I ordered she actually hummed.

As we waited for our dessert, a voice I had not heard in a while called my name.

"Edward." I looked over to see Jessica Stanley walking over to our table.

"Jessica, it's nice to see you." I said as I stood to hug her. I looked over at Bella to see a look of pain come over her face.

"Jessica Stanley I would like you to meet my girlfriend Bella Swan." I hoped my introducing Bella as my girlfriend would help to alleviate any pain she was feeling, but the look was still there. She tried to cover it as she took Jessica's out stretched hand.

"It's nice to meet you." She said quietly.

"It's very nice to meet you." Jessica said with a look of relief crossing her face. "Oh Edward, I'm so happy you moved on. I was so worried about telling you the truth, worried that you wouldn't realize you deserved so much better then Tanya and her crap. I'm so glad to see you look so happy!"

Jessica's words seemed to calm Bella a bit and a small smile began to form.

We talked for a few minutes about school and how she was doing when a young man walked up to her.

"Ready to go Jess?" he said placing his hand on the small of her back.

"Just give me one more minute Marcus." She said smiling at him and then turning back to me. She hesitated for a moment before she spoke.

"Edward, I wasn't sure if I should say anything out of fear of hurting you more, but I see now that will not be the case." She looked over at Bella with so much happiness in her eyes. "Tanya and James got married last week."

I looked over at Bella to see the pain coming back to her face.

"I'm glad to see he stepped up." I said casually hoping Bella would see that this news did not mean anything.

"Yea me too." Jessica said. "Marcus is waiting so I'm going to run. It was so good to see you again Edward." She said as she leaned in to hug me goodbye.

"And it was a great pleasure to meet you Bella." She said before walking away.

I sat there for a moment trying to gage Bella's emotions. I was about to ask her how she was doing when she spoke first.

"Edward, are you ok?"

_What?_

"Of course I am sweetie, why wouldn't I be?"

"I know you two were together for almost a year and I can imagine it was hard to hear she has gotten married." She said holding her hand out to take mine. She was worried about me. That was the pain on her face.

"Bella, I am thrilled to hear she got married. I want her to be happy and I wish her the best but that's it. There is nothing there anymore. I don't know that there ever really was."

"But Edward…"

"Bella do you remember when I told you that something changed and that I was ready to break up with her?" She shook her head yes, still looking down at her lap. "That something was you, Bella. I don't think I fully understood it at the time, but that something was always you. From the first moment I met you, you changed things for me."

She sat there quietly, still not looking up. I pulled my chair to sit next to her and I pulled her face up with my fingers under her chin. Tears were falling from her eyes but she had the sweetest smile on her face. I wiped the tears from her eyes and leaned in and gently kissed her lips.

"I'm glad things changed Edward." She whispered as the waiter came back to the table with our desserts.

We shared our delicious treats as Bella tried to break down the different ingredients in them. It was like watching a master at work.

"So what now?" She asked as we were leaving the restaurant heading for my car.

"Well the Varsity theater is having a Pixar run this week and well tonight wouldn't you know they are showing _Wall*E."_

"Seriously?" She beamed.

"Yes. I figure I needed to check out this deeply moving work of art that you keep telling me about." I answered her trying to sound professional.

She lightly slapped at my arm before stopping abruptly and turning to face me.

"I meant what I said Cullen, you give me shit about crying and I will beat your ass because I know I will cry." She was so serious that I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes ma'am!" I said saluting my hand at her.

I had to admit the movie was much better than I thought it was going to be. The best part though was watching Bella. The way she laughed, the way her eyes shone in the dark from the light of the screen. There was such innocence to the way she took the movie in. She didn't care that it was a cartoon; she admired the beauty of the film. She didn't care that it was two robots; she was moved by the love they developed. She didn't care that she was watching a kid's movie, she let the heartbreak and then joy of the ending of the movie overtake her and she cried. Truly cried, truly allowed herself to be swept up in the story. It was beautiful to watch. Everything about this girl just made me love her more and more.

When the lights came up she looked over at me and smiled through her tears.

"So?"

"Beautiful!" I answered knowing she would not get my true meaning.

"I told you."

When we got back to the dorm, we walked to her room so she could change and come and stay with me again. I worried briefly that she would change her mind since she had stayed the night before, but she never hesitated.

We lay there for a bit watching TV, her back nestled into my chest. She turned her body to face me and sat there quietly just staring at me.

"What is it Bella Luna?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to make sure this was real and not a dream."

"It's real my sweet girl, it's very real."

I leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips before allowing them to slowly make their way across her cheek and nose and worked my way down to her jaw. I slowly traced her jaw line with my lips before moving my way down to her neck. She rolled her head back slightly, opening her neck up to me. I trailed my kiss up the side of her neck to her ear before taking her lobe into my mouth and gently sucking on it.

She shuddered and I feared that I had gone too far when she let out a breathy moan.

"Edward, that feels so good." She whispered as if addressing my fears. I teased her lobe a bit more and she shuddered again. This was a good shudder, a shudder that was so damn sexy! A shudder that sent waves of heat throughout my whole body.

I wanted to go further, to explore more than just her neck and ear, but I knew now was not the time. We would get there, I knew we would, but only when she was fully ready. And I was willing to wait until the end of time for her.

I let go of her ear and moved my kisses back to her lips and then pulled back so that I was looking down into eyes.

"What is it love?" she asked

"Nothing beautiful. I am just admiring perfection." Her face filled with a brilliant pink glow and she leaned up to take my lips in hers.

We laid there just as we had a few nights ago and kissed, just kissed before falling asleep in each other's arms.

The rest of the weekend was rather low key compared to our date night. Bella of course had to give a full run down to Alice and surprisingly I had to do the same with Emmett.

Bella and I made homemade pizzas together Saturday night and settled in to watch movies. Alice and Jasper brought over Chinese takeout and Emmett and Rose brought a movie Sunday night. Emmett had found a copy of _Moonstruck _and every time the moon was shown we all screamed "Bella Luna", much to her embarrassment.

The great thing was that she stayed with me each night and slept. No dreams woke her up screaming, no whimpers escaped her lips. The purple under her eyes was gone; the color was back in her face. The stress of not sleeping was gone.

The bad thing was that neither of us talked about our upcoming separation. Neither of us mentioned the five nights we would not be in each other's arms. Neither of us expressed the concerns I knew we both had about her dreams coming back while we were apart. Neither of us allowed ourselves to think about the emptiness we would feel while away from each other.

She met with Kate Monday since she would be out the rest of the week. It had been a hard session for Bella and I could tell she was mentally exhausted. I didn't ask her about what happened just took her in my arms and held her as she cried. I knew when she was ready she would talk about it, but for now I just gave her what she needed, loving arms to make her feel safe.

She stayed with me again that night and slept the whole night.

Unfortunately Tuesday came quicker than either of us wanted and it was time to go to the airport. Bella, Emmett, Rose and Alice took me there and were going to leave for Forks after dropping me off. Rose's parents were going to California to see her older sister's new baby so she was spending Thanksgiving with the McCarty's.

Alice and Jasper were in the same boat as Bella and I, with Jasper returning home for his brother's wedding and he had to take an earlier flight back to Houston.

We stood there in the same unloading zone we had been fussed at for kissing in over a week ago.  
I dared the TSA to rush me this time. I would be arrested but it would have been worth it not to lose this time with Bella.

Thankfully Emmett and Alice stayed in the car and allowed us to have our moment together.

"You have my t-shirt right?" I asked. I had given her the t-shirt I slept in the night before, hoping that it would help her feel safe while she slept.

She nodded her head yes. I could tell she was trying to fight back tears.

"I'll call you as soon as my plane lands and then every day until we are back together on Sunday."

Again she nodded her head yes. I pulled her chin up with my fingers to get her to look into my eyes.

"I love you my Bella Luna." I said before leaning in and gently kissing her lips. I could feel the tears she had been fighting sliding down her face and onto our embraced lips. I let her tears absorb into my mouth, taking that little bit of her home with me.

"I love you too Edward. I'm going to miss you." She whispered, trying to hold back her sobs.

"I know sweetie, me too!" We stood there for a few more minutes just holding each other when Emmett, Rose and Alice got out of the car to say goodbye.

"Be careful and tell your mom and dad we said hello." Emmett said holding his hand out to me to shake.

"I will, you do the same, and Emmett, please drive safely." I said nodding down to Bella.

"You know it buddy!" he grinned. "We'll be here Sunday evening to pick you up."

Bella and I kissed again before I whispered in her ear. "I left something for you in your bag. Just a little something to remind you of happier times!"

She looked up at me with too many questions in her eyes. "Alice helped." I smiled and squeezed her tightly before kissing her one last time.

_It was only five days, we can do this._ I kept telling myself over and over again. I could let her go and not worry about her safety. I could trust her to Emmett. I could trust her to Charlie just like he had trusted her to me.

I walked through the glass doors, turning back one more time to see her again before going to check in and go through security.

Emmett was standing there with his arm around Bella, trying to comfort her and I could tell the tears were taking her over. I blew her a kiss and said a pray that she would be safe while away from my arms.

BPOV

I had tried so hard not to cry in front of him, tried so hard to hold it together. It was silly I know. He was just going to be gone for five days but I was acting like he was never coming back. It felt a bit like a part of me was missing as I watched him walk through those doors.

"He'll be ok little one and Sunday will be here before you know it." Emmett whispered into my ear as he pulled me into a hug trying to comfort me.

"Promise?"

"I promise Bella. Stay focused on the good things and I promise everything will be ok."

_Good things stay focused on the good things._ I kept telling myself as we all settled back into the car for the drive home. Alice and I sat there with our heads together holding hands, both in tears. I knew she was hurting too, missing Jasper as much as I missed Edward. We sat there quietly, companions in silent misery as I tried to focus on good things.

Fortunately there were so many good things to focus on. Our past few days together had been so blissful. The little things like the trip to the Public Market to the big things like him telling me I was the reason for the change in him when it came to his wanting to end the relationship with Tanya.

Emmett kept looking back in his mirror to the two of us and I knew he was worried about the both of us. It had been a little over two hours and neither of us had spoken. That was an incredible amount of time for Alice to go without speaking and I could tell it pained him to see that.

As we got closer to home, he tried to draw us out, making small talk but our answers were never more than one or two words.

Familiar sights begin to come into view and I knew we were home. I loved this small town, had even missed it a bit, but the closer we got to my house, the more it made me miss school. Or I should say the more it made me miss my new home, my home with Edward.

Mom and Dad walked out onto the front porch as we pulled into the driveway. I wondered how long one of them had been looking out the window for the sight of Emmett's jeep.

"Bella!" Mom said as she rushed over to me and pulled me into a hug. My body was stiff and sore from the long drive, but it felt good to have moms' arms around me.

"Isabella" Dad said quieter than mom had been as he pulled me into a tight hug. I could feel all the worry leaving him as he pulled me in closer. As if years of tension were draining from his body. "I missed you darling, I'm glad your home."

"I missed you too daddy."

We said our goodbyes to the others and made our way into the house. Familiar smells waved through my senses and calm came over me. It felt good to be here. It didn't completely take away the pain of missing Edward, but it did help to lessen it.

Dad brought my bag up to my room and mom followed saying she wanted to gather any dirty clothes I might have to start a load of wash. I knew however she had other motives and she wanted to talk and see how I was doing.

"So how are things at school?" Mom asked after dad left the room.

"Mom things are good. Just like they were yesterday and the day before when you and I spoke." I reached for my bag as mom continued to talk to me about things at school. I suddenly remembered Edward telling me he left me something in my bag and I quickly ripped the zipper open to see what it was.

"What is it Bella?" Mom asked concerned by my sudden excitement.

My only focus was seeing what he had left me and when I peered into the bag there it was. A beautiful blue satchel that was drawn together with ribbon. As I lifted the bag up I could hear the clink of bottles. I pulled the ribbon apart and as I opened the satchel I was flooded with the smell of vanilla.

Inside the bag were a bunch of vanilla beans and five small bottles. I pulled the bottles out and saw they were different types of extracts. Vanilla from the different regions where they are grown and a bottle of almond extract.

I could feel tears forming in my eyes as I pulled out a note from the satchel.

_Just a little something to make you smile the way you make my heart smile. With all my love, Edward_

"What is it sweetie, what's wrong?" Mom was standing beside me turning me to her.

"He gave me vanilla." I said looking up at her, smiling despite the tears rolling down my face.

"Oh Bella!" my mother said as she pulled me into a hug. "I knew Edward was something special!"

"He really is mom!"

Just then my phone rang and I was thrilled to see it was Edward.

"Hello handsome."

_Hello Bella Luna, it is so good to hear your voice._

"Thank you Edward."

_For what my love?_

"For the vanilla, I'm not sure how you did it, but it means the world to me."

_Good. _He cooed and I could just imagine the grin on his face.

Mom left us to our conversation and we talked for over an hour. I missed him so much but it helped to hear his silky voice.

After we ended our call I felt I could make it through the next few days, felt that thoughts of Edward would get me through not seeing his face.

The first night was the hardest. I woke up screaming several times. By the third time, Mom just laid in bed with me, hoping her presence would help me sleep. It didn't help, but it did mean she was there to quiet my screams that much quicker.

Mom and I spent Wednesday in the kitchen baking for our dinner with the McCarty's the next night. It had been a tradition for our families to share Thanksgiving ever since Alice and I were four. Mom and I baked and brought desserts and breads while Alice and Charlotte made the side dishes. Dad, Peter and Emmett either grilled or deep fried the turkey.

Edward and I spoke on the phone before bed that night. We even fell asleep together on the phone. I could hear his voice trying to calm me as I started to whimper from one of my dreams. I woke up suddenly at the sound of his voice and pulled the phone back to my ear.

"Edward?"

"Yes love, I'm here, granted it may be over the phone, but I am here." He continued to talk me down from the nightmare and we spent the rest of the night talking. He described the sun rise in Chicago and I described the cloud cover in Forks. We finally said goodbye when I heard his alarm clock going off.

"Sorry sweetie, got to go get ready to head out to granddad's for lunch." I knew he was in for a three hour ride to his grandfather's house and I hoped that he would be able to sleep on the way there. We had spent the whole night on the phone together. Thank God for unlimited minutes!

Thursday of course was a whirl wind of getting ready to go to the McCarty's house for dinner and football.

A part of our tradition was everyone saying what they were thankful for that year and much to my surprise everyone at that table said me being ok. To know I was loved that much was overwhelming and I could not hold back the tears that fell.

"I am thankful for my wonderful family, all of my family, whether they are here at this table or in Chicago." I managed to get out without blubbering.

After dinner Edward called to say hello and the phone was passed around as each of us spoke to him and then to Carlisle and Esme. When the phone finally came back to me I went out to the front porch to talk to Edward.

"I miss you!" I whispered.

_I miss you too love. How was dinner?_

"It was great Edward; they all said they were thankful for me being ok."

_I hope you know I am thankful as well?_

"I do Edward, as I am so very thankful for you."

_So what is on the agenda for tomorrow?_

"Big day of shopping with Alice and Rose."

_That sounds like torture!_

"Oh it is! But it makes Alice happy and she needs a pick me up. She misses Jasper terrible."

_Yeah I know the feeling._

"You miss Jasper too?" I said teasing him.

_Have you always been this big a smart ass?_

"No it just must be you that brings it out of me." I said teasing him further.

_Lucky me!_ He said trying not to laugh.

"I better run sweetie, I can hear Emmett giving Alice a hard time. I should go and rescue her. I love you."

_I love you too. I'll call you before bed. _

We finished cleaning up and headed back to our house but not before Alice reminded me she would be picking me up at 4:00 am to head to Port Angelus to go shopping.

"Really Alice, 4:00 am?"

"I know!" Rose groaned. At least I would have company in my early morning misery.

Edward and I talked on the phone again just like the night before. Just like the night before, we fell asleep on the phone together and once again I heard him calling me as I started to whimper from my dreams. He told me about the sunrise in Chicago and then I had to go meet Alice for shopping.

By the end of the day Friday I was dragging so badly I could barely keep my eyes open. It had been a fun day, despite Alice dragging us all over the place shopping. Alice and Rose both grilled me about Edward and my relationship and both told me how happy they were we had found each other.

After dinner that night, I headed up to my room when dad stopped me.

"Bells do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"No dad, I was just going to do some reading for school."

"Do you think you could take your books to the river and go fishing with me?"

"Really dad, fishing?"

"Humor your old man?"

"Sure daddy."

I smiled at him and then hurried upstairs to wait for my call with Edward.

_How was shopping?_

"Long! But I had a good time." I said and could hear him stifling his laughter. "You will never guess what I am doing tomorrow."

_What?_

"Going fishing with dad."

_Fishing? Really?_

"I know I said the same thing, but when he asked me to humor him, I couldn't say no."

_Can't wait to hear all about what you catch._

We both laughed and continued our conversation until we fell asleep. But that night he didn't need to wake me up when I whimpered, because the dreams never came.

I slept through the night, the sound of his voice, thoughts of him, they all helped me to hold it together and I actually slept.

It was the sound of him humming that woke me up.

"Edward?"

_Good morning sweetie. We missed the sunrises this morning._

"I know it's kind of wonderful isn't?"

_Amazing! Did you really sleep through the night without any dreams?_

"Just good ones about you." I said and I could actually hear him smiling over the phone.

"Bella?" There was a knock on the as dad called my name.

"Yes dad."

"You ready?"

"Just about, need another twenty minutes ok?"

"Ok darling, I'll be down stairs waiting on you."

_Gotta run huh? _Edward sighed.

"Yes, fishing awaits!"

_I hope you enjoy yourself! Love you_

"Love you too, talk to you later."

We had been at the river for about an hour and dad had not said a word despite several attempts to start speaking to me. I knew he had something on his mind by the look on his face, but I didn't want to push him. I knew when he was ready he would speak.

I turned back to my reading and enjoyed the rare day of sunlight that we had been given.

"Isabella, are you doing ok?"

"I'm good dad."

"Not just now sweetie, I mean at school?"

"I know what you mean daddy, I'm good."

He was quiet again for a few minutes as he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"Edward…he is good to you." It was more of a statement then a question.

"Yes he is daddy, very good to me."

"I like him Bella. I like him for you."

I walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Me too daddy."

And with those words and that gesture, dad's worried face grew into a smile.

Once we got home, the rest of the afternoon was spent packing for the return trip back to school and spending time with my parents. We were leaving early to get back to school as Alice insisted she needed to be there when Jasper's flight arrived at 11:30 in the morning. Edward's was not going to be in until 4:00 pm.

Edward and I spent another night on the phone and once again I was lucky enough to have another nightmare free night.

We parted on the phone knowing we would see each other again in a few hours.

Emmett and Alice were at the house at 8:00 am to pick me up. I could tell dad wanted me to stay, but he did very well and kept his words to himself.

The closer we got to Seattle the more excited I became. It was as if Alice had infected me and we were both giddy little girls. Emmett could only roll his eyes as he took in the major difference between us on the ride to Forks and the ride back to Seattle.

We all managed to survive the explosion of energy that was Alice greeting Jasper at baggage claims and headed back to the dorm. We had a few hours to kill before Emmett was going to take me back to the airport to pick up Edward.

I made sure to busy myself as best I could, unpacking and getting my books ready for class the next day. When I had accomplished all that I could I began pacing the room. Alice was with Jasper so I didn't have to worry about her watchful eye.

It felt like time was dragging on, mocking me because I couldn't wait to see Edward, couldn't wait to feel his arms around me, to have the touch of his lips on mine, to drink in his scent.

I was about to go down to Emmett's room to beg him to please take me to the airport early when there was a knock on the door.

I opened it up to see the most beautiful man standing there with the most beautiful smile ever.

"Hey there Bella Luna." He beamed as he held his arms open wide for me.

"Edward!" I screamed as I rushed into his arms. "How…what…you're not supposed to be here yet."

"I was able to get an earlier flight. I asked Emmett to come and get me so I could surprise you. God did I miss your beautiful face."

He pulled my head back and brought his lips to my. They were so full of passion and we both opened our mouths at the same time to allow each other in. Our tongues met and pulled the other into a deep embrace. There was so much want and hunger in our kiss that it made my knees go weak.

"Damn Bella!" he said pulling me back from the brink of falling down. "I missed your lips!"

We lost ourselves again in our kiss and I knew I was safe. Being in Edward's arms, feeling his body up against mine, I knew everything was alright.

I was home.

* * *

**A/N: Something big is coming in the next chapter. While not the reveal of who the bad guy is, we will learn a bit of his very troubled mind.**

**Reviews, comments and questions are always welcomed and much loved!**


	18. Chapter 18

**SM owns all things Twilight & Damien Rice owns the lyrics**

Warning: This chapter is a bit distrubing and drops the F bomb a great deal.

Forgive me the content, have seen too many eps of Criminal Minds!

Thank you for all of the love, it truly makes me very happy!

Everyone should have a passion, find yours and live it! Just a friendly tip!

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

_Bella is mine!_

It was the same e-mail message I had gotten for the past four days. The first one was waiting for me when I got back Sunday. There was nothing in the subject line. I probably would have ignored it but the e-mail name got my attention, bellasheart.

I thought maybe it was something that Emmett and Jasper had done to be cute, but when I pulled it up and read the message I knew this wasn't cute. This was him and he was trying to tell me to back off.

I called Jake the next day and told him about the e-mail. They did a trace on the hotmail account but it turned out to be under the information of a dead man.

They also tried to ping it back to the original server where it was set up and where the subsequent e-mails had been sent, but they all lead back to different public locations like the library or Internet cafes.

Jake and Sam were both concerned that he was now making contact with me. Concerned that he was getting to be more dangerous then he already had been.

I hadn't said anything to anyone about this other than Jake and Sam. I worried about what it would do to Bella. Knew that she would worry about me and I couldn't have that. She was doing so much better as far as her dreams. She had managed to make it through the past few nights sleeping on her own without them waking her up.

I didn't want to set her back so I didn't say a word. I hated to keep things from her but I just had to.

"Bella is mine? What the hell is that Edward?" I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't hear Emmett come in. I didn't notice he was concerned about the look on my face and I didn't know he had been standing behind me as I sat at the desk staring at my screen.

"It's nothing Emmett." I said as I minimized the window.

"Bullshit Edward, what is that?"

"We think it's a message from him."

"Him?" I could see the rage that was building in Emmett's eyes. It was the same rage I felt Sunday night when I read the first e-mail. "What the fuck Edward, he contacted you?"

"We think so."

"Who the hell is 'we', Edward?"

"Sam, Jake and I."

"So this isn't the first one?"

"No." I said quietly. I couldn't look at him. I knew his anger was now pointed at me for not telling him.

"Does Bella know?"

I just shook my head no.

"Why not!" He was screaming at me now.

"Because I don't know what this would do to her Emmett. She has been doing so well and I don't want to set her back."

He calmed down and stood there for a moment, thinking.

"Now that he has contacted you, they know who he is? I mean they can trace that kind of shit right?"

"Normally they can, but the account was set up with false information and all of the e-mails have been sent from public computers."

"Why did he contact you, what the hell does this mean?"

"Sam seems to think in this creep's mind he and Bella are an item and that I'm screwing that up for him, so…"

"So he's threatening you?" Emmett interrupted me.

"Well they are not sure if it is a threat or not." I stood up from my chair and walked over to the fridge to get a bottle of water. I had tried to down play this in my mind and not think of it that way. I didn't want to think of what this guy might try to do to Bella now.

"If it's not a threat Edward then what the hell is it?" He followed me over the fridge and spun me around to look at him.

"I'm trying not to think about it."

"What the fuck Edward! How can you not think about this? Am I going to have to worry about you now too?"

"No Emmett, of course not. Bella is our only concern. I am trying not to think about what this means for her. This son of a bitch is crazy and it scares the hell out of me to think about…" I couldn't finish my thought. I didn't want to allow myself to go there.

"I know Edward; it scares the hell out of me too." He sighed as he walked over to the bed and sat down. "Who is this bastard?"

"I wish I knew Emmett. I would give my life right now to know who he is, to know that Bella is safe."

We sat there, not saying a word. We didn't know what to say, didn't want to think about what could happen. Emmett was about to say something when Bella walked in with Mike behind her.

"Bella what are you doing here?" I asked rushing over to her and taking her in my arms.

"Class was cancelled."

"Bella why didn't you call one of us?" Emmett said walking over to where we stood; there was clear panic in his voice.

"It's the class I have with Mike; he walked me back so we wouldn't have to wait around."

Emmett looked over at Mike and gave him a head nod.

"Thanks man." He grumbled.

"No problem." He said hesitantly. "I'll see you later Bella."

"Yeah see you later Mike, and thanks for walking me back."

"So how has your day been?" I asked letting go of her and letting her settle into the room.

"Pretty good actually, I got an A on my English Lit project." She beamed.

"Never doubted you sweetie." I proudly said as I looked over at Emmett who was standing there still shaken up.

Bella noticed his expression and walked over to him, putting her hand on his arm. "Em, what's wrong?"

He relaxed his stance a bit and pulled Bella into a hug. "Nothing little one, just a shitty day."

"Aw sweetie, I hope it gets better." She stood on her tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"It just did Bella Luna, thank you!" He sighed and I could see the tension melting away from him.

"Anything for my big brother!" she smiled at him as she walked over to the couch and sat down beside me.

"How was your Chem test?" She asked me.

"Not too bad." I answered absentmindedly.

She looked at me for a moment and then over to Emmett. I knew she could tell that whatever was wrong with Emmett was bothering me too. I knew I needed to say or do something to take her mind off of us.

"Emmett and I were going to walk down to the café and get some lunch, are you hungry?"

She looked back at me and then at Emmett again who was now standing there smiling at her. He understood what I was doing and did a good job of changing his mood.

"Actually I am pretty hungry." She said letting it drop.

We made our way down to the café and ordered lunch. Emmett and Bella went to find a seat while I waited for the food. I couldn't help but look around trying to figure out if he was here watching us and if he was, just who the hell he might be. I looked over at the booth and could see Emmett doing the same thing.

As I walked over to the booth I could hear Bella questioning him. "Emmett what are you doing?"

"Nothing." He answered casually trying to hide his actions.

"Nothing, really? Emmett your head is about to fall off from all the turning it is doing. Who are you looking for?"

"I…am…looking…for that guy over there." He said as he pointed to a guy across the café. "He's in one of my classes and I need some notes. I'll be back in a minute." He stood up and walked over to the guy he had pointed out. I wasn't sure if he actually knew him or not, but I had to give him credit for thinking pretty quick on his feet.

"Is Emmett really ok?" Bella asked as I sat down beside her.

"Yeah, he is just a little on edge about an upcoming exam he is not ready for." She looked at me for a moment not really sure about my answer.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look today?" I said trying to distract her. It wasn't a lie though; she did look beautiful today, just as she did every day.

"You mentioned it earlier." She grinned as she leaned in and kissed my lips.

Emmett walked back over to the booth mumbling. "It's not like I was trying to scare the little shit."

"What?" Bella asked

"Oh nothing, I just scared that guy when I walked up to him."

"Did he have your notes?"

"Not with him, he is going to give them to me tomorrow in class." He answered trying to keep up the charade. I shot him a look telling him to cool it!

"Well then it all worked out in the end right? Does this help make your day better?" Bella said with such enthusiasm in her tone.

"Not as good as you did little one, but it helped." He chuckled.

"Good!" she smiled and began to dig into her Roasted Veggie Wrap.

After lunch we headed back to our room to work on some homework. Bella finished hers before I did and turned on the TV to keep her occupied while I finished doing some research. As she was flipping through the channels, she came across the movie _Step into Liquid_ and curled up on the couch.

"I love this movie." She said really more to herself.

"Isn't that a surfing movie?" I asked somewhat surprised that would draw her attention.

"Yeah." She answered.

"Do you surf?"

"Oh heavens no, I would probably face plant in the water. I just think it is a beautiful movie. I mean look at those shots."

The scene on at that moment was of two surfers as they were gliding in a wave under the water. It really was a beautiful shot.

"I love those kinds of underwater shots, looking up at the sky from under the water. I think it is breathtaking. The idea of the water just surrounding you like that, like it is engulfing you. Kind of like a shower does but more so. It always makes me think about how much I love to lie on my back in a pool and just feel the water all around me as I float."

I gave up on my research for awhile and settled onto the couch next to her to watch the rest of the movie. All I could do was sit there and smile, thinking that this was just another one of those things that made Bella so special and made me love her more and more.

I knew there was somewhere I had to take her and that tomorrow after her session with Kate would be the best time. My late class had been cancelled so I could meet her after her 11:30 class. Her sessions with Kate left her so drained and I knew the perfect pick me up for her.

After we finished the movie, we fixed dinner and hung out for a little bit watching TV and kissing. About 10:30 she got her stuff together to leave and said she was going to head back up to her room.

I didn't want her to go, didn't want her to be out of my sight. Logically I knew he would never try anything in the dorm, but at this point it was hard for me to be logical.

"Don't you want to stay here tonight?" I asked praying she would.

"I told you, this weekend sweetie. I know we were pushing our luck the last time and I really don't want you to get into any trouble."

"But don't you want to stay with me before then?" I knew I sounded like I was begging now.

"Edward of course I want to stay, I just don't want to push your luck."

"But Bella…"

"Edward is there something wrong?" I knew I couldn't argue this anymore without telling her the reasons for my fears.

"No, I just miss holding you." I whispered looking down at my feet. It wasn't a lie I did miss holding her.

"Aw sweetie!" She said as she crawled into my lap and began to gently kiss my lips.

She put both of her hands on my face and began to pull me deeper into her kisses; opening her mouth and pushing mine open with her tongue. I slide my hands up her back and pulled her closer into me as my tongue found hers and a great wave of desire washed over both if us.

She slide he legs around so that she was straddling my lap, her legs on either side of my own. We pulled each other tighter together and if I could have consumed her at that moment I would have. Every part of my body wanted to drink her in, to feel her bare skin against my own, but my mind was screaming at me to stop, knowing that if I didn't stop, didn't separate her from my lap, we would have other issues to deal with.

"Damn Bella!" I said pulling away from our kiss panting. "As much as I am enjoying this, we should probably get you up to your room for bed."

She groaned in frustration as she laid her head against mine. "I know!" She said as she pulled herself off my lap. I missed the feel of her body instantly.

"Walk me to my room?" She asked holding out her hand.

"Anything for you Bella Luna."

I was the one that had a hard time sleeping that night. Until I spoke with Emmett about the e-mails I hadn't let the threat of him doing something else to Bella into my thoughts, but now they were out there and no matter what I did they would not go away.

My dreams were filled with images of Bella screaming for me to help her and not being able to find her. Of seeing dark shadows lingering around her and not being able to bring light to her and of reaching her too late to help.

Every time I would wake up with a jolt I would reach for her and when my arms couldn't find her it made the panic even worse until I realized she wasn't there. I was thankful Emmett had stayed at Rose's place. The last thing either of us needed was for him to worry more than he already was.

I met Bella the next morning for breakfast and seeing her smiling face helped to ease my mind. She looked so beautiful, so refreshed. I was glad to see that it looked like she had slept through the night.

After my awful night I knew there was no way I could tell Bella about the e-mails, not until we knew more. I couldn't do this to her, not when she had come so far and looked so happy.

I managed to make it through breakfast and walking her to Kate's without giving away my concerns. After her questioning Emmett about his wandering head, I made sure to only let my eyes wander and only when she was not looking.

I didn't want to leave her with Kate, I didn't want to go to class, and I didn't want her anywhere other than by my side. I suddenly understood Charlie a great deal better. I also understood she would be pissed if she knew what was going through my mind.

So I kissed her goodbye and told her I would be there when she got out of her Econ class which left her with a smile on her face.

I made it through my Anatomy class and went over to the Business building to wait for Bella. I sat outside of her class and continued to look around to see if there was anyone else doing the same.

I kept looking at my watch and time was just dragging. I hated this, hated that I was now suddenly a paranoid person. Hated that this prick was dictating our lives.

"Edward? What are you doing sitting in the hall?" The voice of one of my Sig Ep brothers broke my mental venting.

"Hey Jared. I'm waiting on my girlfriend to get out of class."

"That sounds like fun." He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

I could hear noise stirring in Bella's classroom and knew they were packing up to leave. I stood up to greet her as the door opened.

"I'll see you later man." Jared said as he headed down the hall.

"Later."

The door opened and students started to file out of the classroom and then there were her beautiful eyes. She looked a little worn out but her face lit up when she saw me.

"Hey Bella Luna!" I said with my arms open to her. She walked into them and nuzzled her nose into my neck.

"Man are you a beautifully welcome sight for sore eyes." She said as she melted into our embrace.

"Rough session?"

"Yeah it sucked. She continues to get more and more into the details and it gets harder and harder."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, I just want to do this." She said as she tightened her grip around me.

"Gladly love." I said as I kissed the top of her head. "Do you feel up to going somewhere? I think I may know what will cheer you up a bit."

She pulled back and looked at me a little surprised. I leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips and then gave her one of my biggest smiles.

"That sounds wonderful." She smiled back at me.

As we pulled up to the Seattle Aquarium I could feel Bella's mood getting better. Her smile stretched from ear to ear and when I turned to look at her that beautiful light in her eyes was at full shine.

"Edward, this is perfect, thank you!" She leaned over and kissed my cheek after I put the car in park.

As we made our way through the aquarium she stopped at each exhibit and studied the information that each gave. She stood there in a quiet bliss and watched the ocean life swim by her. This beautiful calm came over her as she lovingly touched the glass.

When we reached the Underwater Dome her face lit up like a kid a Christmas. She stood there looking up at the water, watching the different fish, sharks and rays glide overhead.

"Edward, it is just beautiful." She cooed.

I walked over to her and took her in my arms, and at that moment everything was better. I forgot about my fears and the crazy son of a bitch who put them there. We were together and we were happy and that was all that mattered.

We stood under the dome for a good half hour as Bella took in all of the different creatures. She was particularly drawn to the rays and the "smiles" on their faces that she said they had when they floated so you could see their undersides.

After we left the dome, we continued to make our way through the exhibits and then finally hit the gift shop as we were heading out. Bella was looking through the different music and DVD offerings while I stood over to the side of her looking at stuffed rays that I wanted to buy for her. She was right; they did look like they were smiling.

I could see two guys standing off to the other side of her and both of them were looking at her, pointing. I couldn't tell if they were admiring her beauty of if there was another reason they were watching her so intently. I noticed one of them working his way over to her as if he was going to speak and I started to move closer to her. I didn't want to seem like an over protective caveman so I stayed in ears distance in case she needed me.

"Excuse me, do I know you?"

Bella turned to look at him. "No I don't think so." She said and turned her attention back to the DVD's.

"Are you sure, you look so familiar. Are you an actress or singer or something?" Bella turned to me and rolled her eyes. I knew she was thinking that was a very tired old pick up line.

"No, no actress or anything else, just a girl looking at some DVD's."

"My buddy and I have been trying to figure out where we have seen you for the past thirty minutes."

By this time I was getting pretty irritated with this kids attempt to pick her up and had had enough.

"Bella sweetie, are you ready to go?" I put my arm around her and kissed her cheek acting as if I didn't see him standing there.

"Bella? Oh shit that's it. Alex it's that Bella girl from the video!" _What_ _the hell was this idiot talking_ _about?_ "I knew I had seen you before, you are the girl from YouTube."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked trying to hold in my anger. This was not the place to beat the shit out of this guy like I wanted to.

"There is a thing on YouTube on her. Some guys' tribute or something."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I was in his face pushing him back up against the wall.

"Edward, please don't do this." Bella said grabbing my arm. Her voice was trembling but she was trying to keep calm which was more then I could say for myself.

"This…guy…bellasheart I think. He has put out a tribute to her with photos and stuff. There is also a website. Must be an old boyfriend if it wasn't you." The poor kid looked like he was going to piss himself. But when he said bellasheart I felt like I was going to be sick.

"What website?" Bella's voice could barely be heard.

"I don't remember the name but it is at the end of the video." The kid's friend said.

"Is there a problem here?" A security guard asked. I didn't realize a crowd of people had circled around us.

"No, no problem." I said as I backed away from the kid. I looked over at Bella who was still holding on to my arm and she was as white as a ghost.

"Bella sweetie, let's get out of here." She shook her head yes but didn't say a word. We rushed to the car, neither of us speaking. Bella just sat there shaking as we made our way back to the dorm.

"Bella sweetie, talk to me." I was trying to be calm, but my mind was going all over the place trying to figure out just what the hell those kids were talking about. She didn't respond though, she just sat there looking ahead.

"Bella Luna, please." Still no response. "Isabella Swan!" I yelled. She jumped, startled by the raise in my voice.

"I…I'm…ok Edward." She stammered out.

"Bella sweetie I'm sorry I yelled. I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's ok Edward." She reached her hand over to take one of mine that was gripping the steering wheel about to break it in two. "Let's just get back to the dorm and see what they were talking about."

We made it back to the dorm without any additional words between us. Then we made our way back to the room and threw the door open.

Emmett was sitting on the couch with his laptop out working. The way we rushed into the room, he jumped up almost dropping his laptop.

"What the hell?" he said.

"Emmett can we use your laptop for a minute?"

"Sure?" he questioned still not sure what we were talking about.

I sat the laptop down on the coffee table and quickly typed in the address for YouTube and did a search for bellasheart. A link to a video with a picture of Bella came up. I sat there just staring at it. This was real.

"What the fuck is that?" Emmett said looking at the screen. I knew I needed to see what the hell this was but I was afraid to push the play button. Bella leaned in and did it for me much to my surprise.

The link screen went black and music began to play. The words, _For the love of Bella,_ came up next before the pictures started. I heard Bella gasp as pictures of her began to flash on the screen. There were pictures of her walking on campus, of her sitting in the café, of her at a football game and pictures of her at a party at the frat house. The chorus to the song began to play and the words _I can't take my eyes off_ _of you_ were repeated several times.

"What is this?" Emmett said again this time with total panic in his voice.

"It's a tribute to Bella."

"That's my life." Bella whimpered. "Some of those pictures are from Freshman Orientation. This is my life since I got here." She said a bit louder this time.

"What is that song?" Emmett asked still in shock.

"It's _The Blowers Daughter_, Damien Rice." Bella said staring at the screen.

The images of Bella continued to flash across the screen and as the song came to an end the words _Bella has my heart_ popped up on the screen and below that was a link to a web address . The screen went black and we all just stood there.

"Did anybody comment on that?" Bella asked breaking the silence.

"Bella I don't think…"

"Did anybody comment on it?" Bella interrupted me. I could hear the anger growing in her voice.

I found the comment section of the video and the first one was from some dumb ass with a call name of lickit69.

_I'd tap that!_

That was it and it was crude as hell!

"Go to the website." Bella said. Her voice was now dripping with anger.

"Bella no!" Emmett said

"Edward, go to the website please." She said ignoring Emmett.

I looked at her and then at Emmett and typed in the address for the website. The home page came up with a picture of Bella sitting on the edge of a fountain here on campus. She was illuminated by the sun and she appears to be reading. The words _Bella owns my heart_ are in huge letters. There are links to different pictures and videos.

"Click on that video." She said quietly as she pointed to one of them. The link brought up a video of Bella and Alice dancing at a party. She looked so happy and I can tell she is completely unaware that she was being taped. This was so much worse than any of us thought.

"Why the fuck is this happening?" Bella said throwing her hands up in the air. I had never heard Bella use that word before.

"Bella?" Emmett said just as shocked as I was.

"What?" she fumed at him.

"Sweetie, don't talk like that." Emmett said trying to calm her down.

"Why the fuck not Emmett?"

"Because you don't talk like that."

"Well Emmett right now is the best time for me to fucking talk like that." She screamed at him. I looked on at the beginnings of her rant, in shock. The video ended and another one began to play. This one was of Bella at a football game. It was the one from Parents Weekend. Bella looked over at the screen for a moment and then she lost it.

"Look at this shit Emmett. This sick fucker has been following me around since I first got here, taking fucking pictures and video of me and now he was put it out there for the world to see. For the world to think that this delusional fuck and I are or were together. For some douche bag with a call name of lickit69 to fucking say _I'd tap that_. So that is what I am now, some girl that guys want to _tap_ because of this fucking creep! This is something that people do for famous people that they have crushes on; it is not something sane people do for some girl they don't even know outside of their sick, delusional fucking world. This is my life Emmett, my whole fucking life and I had no clue, no fucking clue." She was yelling at the top of her voice now. "If there was ever a moment that I should be forgiven for a fucking rant it is right fucking now!"

Emmett and I just sat there with our mouths opened. I had no idea that Bella was capable of getting this worked up and obliviously neither did Emmett.

He walked over to one of the desk chairs and pulled it out for her to sit down on.

"Bella sweetie, please calm down. Please come over here and sit down." He stood there holding the back of the chair trying to get her to sit down.

"No fucking way am I calming down right now Emmett. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" She screamed again.

The video ended and another started up but I couldn't tell what it was. It was dark and nothing looked familiar at first, but as the video played on, I knew exactly what it was and I froze. Bella was still ranting and had not noticed the change but then the sound of his voice froze her dead in her tracks.

_I said don't fight me bitch._

She looked at the screen as did Emmett.

"Edward…that's the attack." She whispered and I heard the sound of wood cracking before Bella dropped to the ground.

"Bella!" I said as I rushed over to where she had slumped on the ground. Emmett was standing there holding a piece of the wooden chair that he had snapped off when he realized what the video was.

"Bella, sweetie." I pulled her into my lap and she was out cold. "Bella" I screamed trying to shake her awake.

I could hear the sounds of her struggling in the video.

"Emmett, please shut that off." I said trying to keep my calm. He didn't move. "Emmett McCarty!" I screamed at him waking him from his trance. "Turn that fucking thing off now!"

Emmett walked over to the computer and shut down the Internet. He realized Bella was out and rushed over to us.

"Edward, what do we do?"

"Please go get Jasper and we need to call Sam or Jake immediately." Emmett got up and walked to the door and found Jasper and Alice standing outside of it. Jasper rushed into the room when he saw Bella on the floor.

"Alice come with me sweetie, we need to call Sam." Emmett said as he pulled Alice away from the room.

"Edward, what the hell happened? We could hear her yelling down the hall."

"It's him Jasper. There is a website and a video on YouTube. He has been following her, taking pictures and videos of her since Freshman Orientation. There is a video of…there is a video of him attacking her Jasper." My voice trailed off as I said the last words. I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Did she see it?" Jasper asked all color leaving his face.

I shook my head yes as I stared down at Bella. I was rocking her back and forth trying to wake her.

"Edward this is beyond what I can do, the shock clearly pushed her over the edge but I don't know what to do, I don't know how to bring her back."

"I don't either Jasper. I don't know what to do. Her pulse is racing but her breathing is calm but the way she fell, it was just so sudden."

"Call your dad Edward. Tell him everything and see what he says."

He handed me his cell and I dialed dad's number. When he answered the phone I rushed through what happened and about Bella's condition. He told me I needed to calm down and start over so he could fully understand what was going on and I did.

When I told him this time, I could hear him gasp when I told him about the video of the attack. When I finished he was quiet but only for a moment.

_That sick son of a bitch!_ He said with so much anger in his voice. I had never heard dad respond in that way in my life. He was quiet again.

_Edward, give me her pulse._ He said pulling out of protective dad mode and into doctor mode.

"75 bpm."

_What about her breathing?_

"It's shallow but calm."

_Was she hyperventilating before she went down?_

"No she was venting about everything going on, but her breathing was normal considering."

He continued to run down a list of items and I could tell he was writing everything down as I answered.

_Edward, physically she is ok. Unfortunately her body is going to have to reboot itself. You are just going to have to wait it out._

I sighed knowing he was right. "Thanks dad."

_Edward, please call me as soon as she wakes up._

"I will dad, I promise."

We said our goodbyes and I picked Bella up and laid her down on the bed. Sam and Jake arrived shortly thereafter and walked into the room with Emmett, Alice and Rose.

We told Sam and Jake about the site and the videos and both of them immediately got on the phone. They wanted to see both and moved everything to Jaspers room, not wanting Bella to wake up to the sounds of any of it again. Everyone else left the room as well and it was just Bella and I.

I sat there holding her hand and listening to her breath for what felt like hours but I knew was more than likely thirty minutes.

I just talked to her trying to bring her back. I talked about our day at the Public Market, about the aquarium and I told her over and over again how much I loved her, how much I needed her in my life.

There was a quiet knock on the door and Rose popped her head in.

"Edward, Sam and Jake have some questions they need you to answer."

I knew I needed to go, but I didn't want to leave her. Rose walked over to the bed and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Edward it's ok. I'll stay here with her, I promise the moment she wakes up I'll let you know."

I leaned in and gave Bella a gentle kiss on the lips before standing up. Rose slide in behind me and took Bella's hand and began humming to her.

"Thank you Rose." I said before leaving the room.

When I walked into Jasper's room there was a flurry of activity going on. Jake was on the phone screaming at somebody and pacing back and forth. Sam, Alice and Emmett were watching the different videos and looking through the pictures trying to figure out when each was taken.

Jasper walked over to me with a very concerned look on his face.

"Edward, some of the pictures…well there is link that has pictures of you and Bella and some of just you and some of them… with some of them he is clearly making threats against you."

"How has this guy been able to follow us and do all of this?"

"We think he has been using surveillance cameras, the kind private eyes use when they are trying to discreetly get information. The video of the attack was more than likely done with some type of lapel camera. Other than his hands and his voice, there is no way of knowing he is even in the shot, the focus is all on Bella." Jake said after he hung up his phone.

"They are pulling the site now and are working with YouTube to pull the one there. They tried to trace the site, but the owner has set it up so that it is pinging off of routers all over the world, which we pretty much figured. He's smart, but our biggest concern is that he is devolving. What started out as just a fascination with Bella has quickly become a delusional obsession. In this guys mind he and Bella have a relationship and you Edward are not part of that delusion."

"What the hell does that mean Jake?" I said the anger raging throughout my body.

"Edward it means, that our concern is not just with Bella, it is with you too. The more he devolves, the more dangerous he is going to get. He has clearly made threats towards you in some of those postings and we have to take those seriously."

"So now what?" I said.

"Now we focus closer on the people here at school. We are going to set up surveillance around campus and around the two of you. We are also going to be watching the Net as well as public places where anyone can use a computer. Once he realizes we have pulled the site he is more than likely going to try and post another one. It's like a trophy for him and he's not going to like us taking that away from him."

"Edward we are taking this very seriously and I need both you and Bella to do the same. Seeing how close he has been to her for the past four months without being detected bothers the hell out of me. I need you both to be hyper-vigilant and know that we will be as well."

"It's been more than four months." Alice said. The whole room stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her.

"Some of these pictures are from home and one of these videos is from our graduation." Alice was shaking badly and Jasper went over to her to try and comfort her.

"Do you think it was someone you graduated with?" Sam asked.

"I don't see how, our class only had 100 people graduate and we knew them all. As keened in on his voice as she is, she would have picked up on the familiarity of it."

"Maybe it wasn't someone who graduated with you; he could be someone who was a year ahead or someone who lives there. Did she ever have any problems with guys back home an ex maybe who had a hard time with their break up?"

"No, Bella never really dated anyone in high school so she never really had an ex. She told me all about the guys who asked her out and she never mentioned anyone who seemed creepy or off. I can't think of anyone from home that it could possibly be."

"Forks is a pretty small town, I mean everyone pretty much knows or knows of everyone else. I agree with Alice, I can't think of anybody that it could be." Emmett said.

I stood there numbly as the others continued on with their conversation about whether or not this guy could be from Forks. I had been numb from the moment I walked into this room. In my worst nightmares I couldn't have imagined this.

"Edward." The sound of Emmett's voice broke my thought.

"Rose just sent me a text, Bella's awake."

I rushed out of the room and over to mine. Throwing the door open, I saw Bella and Rose hugging. They both looked up from their embrace and Rose stood up to leave the two of us alone. She gently patted my arm before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I walked over to the bed and pulled Bella into my arms.

"Bella sweetie, are you ok?"

She shook her head yes but didn't say anything else. We sat there for awhile, me holding her in my arms trying to soothe her.

"Edward, why is this happening?" She said and I could feel her tears soaking my shirt.

"I don't know my sweet Bella, I just don't know."

* * *

A/N: Bella's rant was a little randy there, but given the circumstances I think it was well deserved! Hope it wasn't too over the top. Her last string of the bombs reminded me of a Sex in The City ep which was much funnier than Bellas.

Reviews, comments and questions are always welcomed and much loved!


	19. Chapter 19

**SM owns all things Twilight related. **

Thank you all for the love!

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

The remainder of the afternoon was a whirlwind of activity. Jake and Sam came in and talked to Bella. Jasper called Kate who came over to check on us but didn't stay long. I called Dad back to let him know Bella was awake and she spoke briefly to both him and mom. I also called Charlie and Renee to let them know about this latest development.

After talking to Bella, Charlie and Sam spoke with each other for awhile discussing the police aspects of the video and about protection for Bella. After Sam hung up with Charlie he told us that Charlie and Renee were coming up first thing in the morning.

Throughout the flurry of people, questions and phone calls, Bella barely reacted to anything. She responded when spoken to but her answers were short and to the point. She was pale and showed no real emotion at all. The only time she seemed to react to anything was when she found out that he made threats against me on the site. I could see rage boiling up in her as it had earlier but it only lasted for a moment and then she went back to a blank expression.

Fortunately she did eat a little when we ordered in dinner and she did get up and move around from time to time. She wasn't catatonic but as deep in thought as she was she appeared that way at times.

Jake and Sam left around 8:30 to head back to the station and talk further with their unit about everything. Emmet, Alice, Jasper and Rose stayed until 10:30, each of them hugging Bella before leaving but she still showed no real signs of life.

The room was suddenly so quiet with everyone gone.

"Are you ok Bella?" I asked hoping to get more than a one word answer.

"Yes." She said her voice very monotone.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No."

"Are you tired?"

"No."

"Do you want to watch TV?"

"No."

I knew this little exercise in small talk was getting me nowhere. I had to do more to draw her out.

"Bella sweetie, I don't want to push you, but I am worried to death about you. Please talk to me; please let me know what you are thinking." I went over to the bed and took her hand in mine as I sat down.

She sat there quietly for a few minutes, thinking. She drew in a deep breath and began to talk.

"I have been trying to figure out what I did to draw this guy's attention. I have been running through my head all of the guys that have ever hit on me, that I turned down and it's not like there have been that many. I have been over and over his voice and tried to match it up with someone in Forks and there is nothing that matches. I cannot understand what it is about me that would make someone think that we were a couple, that there is this whole world that _we_ exist in. It's not like I'm anything special, I have no great talents, I'm not Rose or Alice and there is nothing about me that begs for attention." She wasn't angry or excited she was just matter of fact.

"Bella you couldn't be more wrong about that. Everything about you attracts attention. You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my life. There is this amazing inner light to you that sparks so much attention when you walk into a room. You are so sweet and so compassionate and everything about you makes people want to know you. And for all that is so amazing about you, the most amazing thing is that you are so down to earth and so unaware of how special you really are. That is what draws people to you. It's like you infect those around you. I know you infected me the first time I saw you, the first time I touched your hand and then when you spoke, oh my god Bella I was a goner." My response was so much more animated than hers was and I hoped my confession would help to bring her out.

"So where does that leave this? If it isn't someone I know or have encountered for more than five seconds does that mean I smiled at him and he took it the wrong way? Did I blink my eyes and he mistook it for a wink? Did I brush against his skin by accident and yet he took it as more? So where does that leave me Edward? If I truly am this special and something as simple as a smile can be seen the wrong way, does that mean I stop smiling? Do I stop caring about others? Should I just withdraw from the world?" Her tone remained calm as she spoke, no clear emotion coming through.

"No sweetie you can't do that."

"And what about what this _amazing thing_ I have is doing to those I care about the most? What about the worry our parents are going through? What about the fact poor Alice hasn't been the same since this happened? Or the fact Emmett is so angry he is breaking chairs with his bare hands? And what about you Edward? This sick bastard is now threatening you. Do you really think I'm ok with the idea of someone hurting you because of me? Edward as much as it would kill me, I would rather walk away from you, than to lose you because of some stupid, insignificant thing I may or may not have done."

"No!" I yelled.

My raised voice surprised me and Bella; she jumped at my tone, really seeming to be awake for the first time all night. I could see the tears forming in her eyes. It was the most emotion she had shown since she stopped crying on my shoulder after she woke up.

"Bella I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to yell like that, I didn't mean to yell at you. God this sucks!" I yelled again as I stood up from the bed and walked over to the kitchen counter, my back turned to her and stared at the wall.

I stood there for a moment trying to calm myself. The thought of losing her, of her walking away to protect me, it was killing me.

I turned to look at her and she was just sitting there watching me, the tears falling down her face.

"Bella sweetie…I have to say something and I know I am probably going to screw it up…but I need you to please just let me try."

She nodded her head and I walked back over to the bed, taking her hand back in mine.

"Bella Luna, I need you to know…I need you to understand…that you are the most important thing in my life. Never before and never again will there be anyone, other than my children, that I could love like I love you, and since I see them in your eyes I kind of need you for them. I cannot walk away from you and I cannot let you walk away from me because you think it would protect me. I would rather give my life than to lose you for that reason alone. If one day you decide you don't love me than I would let you leave, it would kill me, but I would let you go, I need you to know that. But not for this Bella, not because you want to protect me." I could feel the tears beginning to wail up in my own eyes.

"As much as the thought of you leaving me hurts, what hurts even more is the thought of you leaving yourself, of you allowing this dick to change who you are. Your smile is the sun and the moon for so many people. You cannot stop that. You cannot stop being who you are. You cannot allow him to make you into something other than what you already are. I love you Bella, everything about you and one of the things I love the most about you is the person you are. Please Bella; please don't let him take that away from you. Please don't…let…him…" I couldn't speak anymore, the tears were falling too quickly now and I couldn't keep my voice from quivering. I was begging. I was being a pus. But I couldn't control it. Everything was just spilling out of me. I hung my head and let the tears fall.

She didn't say anything. She just tightened her grip on my hand, rubbing her thumb gently back and forth against the back of it and let me cry, let everything that had been building up over the past week go.

After a while I had no more tears to fall. Everything had spilled out of me. I looked up at Bella knowing I would see either horror or pity on her face. But all she did was smile at me, a genuine honest Bella smile. It was the most beautiful smile in the world.

She put her free hand on my cheek and I leaned into it. And that was all I needed. No words, no more tears, just comfort and her beautiful smile. She wouldn't let him win; she wouldn't stop being…Bella. She would continue to be the sun and moon and those of us who were lucky enough to be loved by her would continue to bask in the glow of Bella.

We pulled each other into the others arms as we laid down on the bed. We didn't say another word, we didn't kiss, we didn't move. We just stared at each other until we fell asleep.

The sun coming through the blinds woke me up the next morning. We both slept through the night. I'm not sure if it was exhaustion, a release of all our pent up stress or just being in each other's arms. It could have been all three, but we both slept through the night.

Bella began to stir and when she opened her eyes, she smiled. My beautiful Bella smile.

"Good morning handsome." She said her face beaming.

"It is a good morning sweetie!" I said pulling her into me and kissing her forehead.

We lay there for a little longer before we got up and started our day. We both knew that Charlie and Renee would be here in a little bit and Kate had insisted Bella talk with her this morning. She was coming over to see her at 10:00. Kate was going to talk to the Dean of Student Affairs to make sure Bella wouldn't get into any trouble for missing another speech class.

Bella jumped in the shower first and changed into the clothes that Alice had brought her last night. I jumped in the shower right after her. The smell of her bath wash engulfed my senses. Vanilla was everywhere and all I could do was smile. I could have stayed in there all day, wrapped up in the scent of Bella, but the ever decreasing water temperature and the knowledge of Charlie's impending arrival forced me out.

I got dressed and opened the door and was met with the smell of eggs and bacon. Bella was cooking us breakfast. She looked up when the door opened and gave me another one of her smiles.

She was so different from yesterday. She had color in her cheeks, she was full of emotion and her spark was back. It was the best sight in the world.

"In the immortal words of Emmett, it smells like heaven in here." I grinned at her and her cheeks were the most amazing color of blush.

"Well I have to make sure the father of my children is well fed don't I?" She had the biggest shit eating grin on her face.

I knew I was the one blushing now. I meant what I said. I did see our children in her eyes, but I also knew it was a little early in our relationship to tell her that.

"Bella I know that came at you quickly, but I just had to say what I was feeling and that is one of the things I feel. But please, I'm not suggesting we run off and get married and start having kids. I know we have only been together for a few weeks and we..."

"It's ok Edward." She said stopping my rambling. "I can honestly say it was the best thing anyone has ever said to me. You talk about the special thing in me, but my love, there is something in you as well. What you said to me last night and the way you always seem to know the right thing to do or say, that is one of the things I love the most about you." She walked over to me with a plate full of food and gave me a gentle kiss before putting the plate in my hands.

"Although I should warn you, my mother said she is not quite ready to be a grandmother yet so we will have to keep a steady stock of condoms around." As soon as the words left her mouth her entire body was as blush as I had ever seen her.

"Oh. Shit. Edward…I…" She stammered.

I tried as hard as I could to hold back my laughter but seeing the blush on her face made it impossible.

I couldn't hold it in any longer and I let out a hearty laugh, the kind of laugh that you can feel in your toes. I was barely able to put the plate of food on the table before I lost it.

Bella stood there watching me with wide eyes but only for a second and then she too lost it. We both had tears in our eyes when Alice came in the door with Charlie and Renee in tow.

"Well that is a far better sound then what was in here last night." Alice said with a smile. The sight of Bella laughing did a great deal for her as well. She looked so much better than she had the night before.

Charlie and Renee came into the room somewhat surprised by the two of us in tears from laughter. But the surprise didn't last long; Charlie only stood there for a moment before he went over to Bella and pulled her into a long hug.

"Isabella…I…I…"

"It's ok daddy. I'm ok." She said trying to comfort him.

Renee walked over to me and gave me a hug. She pulled back looking up at me with such sadness and concern. I knew she was worried about me now as much as she was about Bella. I kissed her forehead and pulled her back into a hug. It was the same gesture I had done with my own mother for as long as I could remember.

"Did you guys eat breakfast yet?" Bella asked trying to break free of her father's tight hold. "I made bacon and eggs."

Charlie finally let Bella go and gave Renee a chance to hug her.

"No." Renee said pulling out of their hug. "Your dad insisted on leaving at the crack of dawn to get here."

Charlie just made a gruff noise as he walked over to shake my hand. I offered him the plate of food Bella had made for me before heading over to the kitchen to fix Renee, Alice and Bella a plate as well.

We all sat there eating in a comfortable silence. Renee stayed beside Bella the whole time, playing with her hair, I guessed as she had done when she was a little girl.

Kate knocked on the door a few minutes before 10:00 and we all left, leaving the two of them alone for a while. Charlie and Renee went to meet Sam and Jake. Alice and I went over to Jasper's room to wait for Bella's time with Kate to be done.

As we were waiting I used Jasper's computer to pull up my e-mail and felt my stomach sink when I saw the familiar address that I hated with a passion.

_Bella is mine! _

It was the same bullshit as before but this time there was an attached file. I was afraid to click on the link, dreading what I would see, but did it anyway. I regretted it immediately. Everything was dark and then suddenly I could see Bella being followed, her running in fear and than her being taken down to the ground.

"I am to kill that sick motherfucker!" I grumbled under my breath.

"Edward, what's wrong?" Jasper asked walking over to where I was sitting. He stopped in his tracks as soon as he realized what it was.

"What's that?" Alice asked walking over too. Jasper moved to block Alice's view as I shut down the link and the e-mail.

"No baby, you don't need to see that." He said to her before turning his attention back to me.

"Edward, was that…" He asked not able to finish his question.

"Yes." I whispered. I could feel my breakfast coming back up and I ran out of the room as fast as I could hoping I would make it to the hall bathroom in time and without Bella seeing me.

"Edward?" I heard Emmett's voice calling my name. He and Rose were walking down the hall.

I managed to make it into one of the stalls before I threw up. I purged what felt like my whole insides, but I could not purge the images of Bella being followed and then taken down from burning my mind.

"Edward, are you ok?" Emmett's voice was full of rage and concern. I knew that Jasper had told him about the e-mail.

I flushed the toilet and stood up to open the stall. I could hear water running as I opened the door. As soon as I moved to walk out of the stall, my legs gave out on me and I crumbled to the ground, Emmett and Jasper both there to catch me and lean me up against the outer stall wall.

"Put your head between your legs and put this on the back of your neck." Jasper said in a calm voice handing me a wet paper towel.

The cool sensation of the towel helped to clear my dizzy head.

"Jasper, Alice cannot see that video." I whispered suddenly realizing she was in the room still.

"She won't Edward. I shut down your e-mail before I came in here. Rose is in there keeping her occupied." He paused for a second. "I take it this wasn't the first e-mail?"

I just shook my head no.

"He's gotten one every day since Sunday." Emmett said the warring rage and concern still in his tone.

"Have they all had a video?"

"No, this is the first one." I managed to get out. My head felt clearer and I leaned it back on the wall, looking at Emmett and Jasper for the first time.

"We were doing so well this morning. As bad as yesterday afternoon was, we had a really good talk last night and things were so much better. And now this! I swear every time I think things are going to get better he manages to find a way to fuck it up."

"That's what he wants Edward. It's a mind fuck." Jasper said as he walked over to the paper towel dispenser. He grabbed a few and wet them before handing them to me.

He slide down the stall wall and sat beside me.

"He wants you to get frustrated, he wants to scare you, he wants to play mind games with you, hoping you will run away. He is pushing you Edward. In that sick twisted mind of his he thinks he can break you two up by keeping you on pins and needles all the time."

"So what do I do?" I asked.

"Remember how much you love Bella. Remember how strong she is and draw from her to find your own. Remember that he is a sick delusional fuck who doesn't deserve to be in the same hemisphere with Bella, let alone in the same room. Remember that no matter what, she loves you Edward, Bella loves _you_." He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it to show his support.

"Does Bella know about the e-mails?" Jasper asked looking at both Emmett and I.

"No."

"Edward you have to tell her. I know you haven't said anything because you were trying to protect her, but she has a right to know."

"I know." I whispered.

"Edward?" Sam's voice called into the bathroom. He must have returned with Charlie and Renee.

"Yeah in here Sam."

"Are you ok?" He asked walking into the room.

"Bad reaction." I answered.

"Rose said you got another e-mail?"

"I did and this time he attached the video of the…" I couldn't finish but the look on his face told me he knew. He pulled out his phone and immediately called his tech group to trace the origins of the e-mail.

"Wait here a minute." Jasper said standing up and walking out of the bathroom. I looked over at Emmett who was standing there with so much anger on his face.

"Emmett, think about what Jasper said. This is all a mind fuck, not just for me but for all of us who love her. Don't let him do this to you."

"I swear Edward; I have never wanted to hurt someone like I do him. It kind of scares me." Emmett said his voice barely above a whisper.

"I know Em, I know exactly how you feel."

"I guess you do." He said giving me a weak smile.

Jasper returned with mouthwash and a towel so I could clean myself up before going back to his room. We walked back into Jasper's to find Charlie pacing the floor and Renee holding Alice. Emmett rushed over to Rose and took her into his arms, trying to calm himself.

"Well it's the same bullshit as before. He used a public computer to send the e-mail. We have a unit heading over to the Internet Café that he used this time to see if anybody there remembers anything. I really wish those places would put in some kind of surveillance cameras." Sam said as he shut his phone and walked back into the room.

"Edward is the first one you have gotten?" Charlie asked.

"No sir. I got the first one Sunday night and have gotten one every day since."

"What do they say?" Charlie sounded like he was in officer mode.

"They have all said Bella is mine."

"And the video?"

"This is the first one." I answered looking down at my feet.

"We think it is probably in reaction to us taking down the site. We haven't been able to determine if he has tried to put another one together yet but we have people monitoring 24/7." Sam said.

"Does Bella know about the e-mails?" Charlie asked.

"What e-mails?" I heard her beautiful voice coming from the doorway. All eyes in the room turned to look at her. Kate was standing behind her. My heart sank knowing I had to tell her.

"Bella sweetie, I need to tell you something." I turned to face her completely and took her hand in mine.

"I got an e-mail from him." I could feel her grip tightening on my hand. Her eyes were as big as Coke cans.

"When?" She asked.

"The first one came in Sunday and I have gotten one every day since then." She dropped my hand and pulled it into herself.

"What do they say?" She asked. I could anger growing in her voice.

"Bella is mine." I whispered.

"And you didn't feel the need to tell me this because?" She was pissed and it wasn't just at the creep. She was pissed at me for keeping this from her.

I started to say something knowing it wouldn't make any sense but prayed that it would.

"The same reason I didn't tell you about Sam and mine's concerns about him at first." Charlie said before I could answer her. I couldn't believe he was standing up for me. "Because he loves you Bella and he was just trying to protect you." I turned to look at him as if to say thank you before turning back to Bella.

"When will you two let me decide what I can and cannot handle?" She huffed before storming out of the room. I heard my door slam shut a few seconds later. I started after her when Kate stopped me.

"Edward, let her calm down first. Let me go talk to her." She said before leaving the room.

Charlie walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulder. "Edward although I understand why you did it, you know you should have told her." I shook my head yes. "She's strong Edward, so much stronger than I ever gave her credit for. Trust me I know all too well the need to protect her, but as much as I hate this, I have had to let her go and if you want to keep her happy, you need to do the same."

He gave me a quick smile before he walked back over to Renee and Alice and sat down. I began to pace the room waiting for Kate to come back over and tell me everything was ok. I blocked out everything going on around me, the noise simply fading into the back of my mind.

"Edward! Bella would like to talk to you." Kate said taking my arm to stop my pacing. She had been trying to get my attention for a moment now and I hadn't realized it. She smiled at me and encouraged me to go see her.

As I walked out of the room, I could hear Kate introducing herself to Charlie and Renee. I stood outside of my door of a moment and caught my breath trying to steady my nerves, before knocking on it.

"Come in Edward." Bella called out to me. I opened the door and saw her sitting on the couch with a look of calm on her face.

"Silly, you don't have to knock on your own door." She said with a slight smile. I took that as I good sign.

I walked over to sit beside her on the couch. "Bella, I'm so sorry. I should have told you about the e-mails. I didn't want you to worry about me, about them. I thought I was protecting you, but you are right, that should be your decision, not mine."

"Edward, it's ok. Well, no, it's not ok, it pisses me off, but I get why you did it. I know you are only trying to protect me, but I cannot move past this, cannot get over this if I cannot deal with everything and I mean everything." She held out her hand for me and when I took it in mine, I felt like the weight of the world disappeared from my shoulders.

"I love you Bella." I said really looking into her eyes for the first time since I sat down beside her. They were so full of love.

"I know sweetie, I love you too." She sighed as she leaned in to kiss me. I put my hand up to stop her.

"I kind of need to brush my teeth." I said trying to calm the sudden look of hurt on her face. I had rinsed my mouth out with the mouth wash Jasper brought me, but I really wanted to brush my teeth before kissing Bella.

"I sort of got sick when I pulled up the latest e-mail he sent and saw the video he attached." A look of understanding and concern washed away the pain on her face as she nodded her head telling me it was ok to go.

While I was brushing my teeth I could hear voices in the room and I figured everyone else had come over to check on us. I was surprised to open the door and see Bella standing there being hugged by both of my parents.

"Mom? Dad?" I asked in disbelief. Mom let go of Bella and rushed over to pull me into a hug. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Do you really think I could find out my babies are in trouble and not hop on the first flight out this morning to be with them." Although I was in shock, it didn't get past me that mom was referring to Bella as one of her babies as well.

"Dad?" I looked over at him and he just shrugged his shoulders.

"It was my idea." He said quietly. He was standing there with his arm around Bella and I could see the love he held for her.

"Why didn't you call me, I would have picked you up at the airport." I said still locked in a hug with my mother.

"Please, you have better things to think about." She answered me looking over at Bella and winking.

Just then Renee and Charlie appeared in the open doorway.

"Esme, I thought I heard your voice." Renee said as she walked into the room. Mom quickly broke our embrace and rushed over to hug Renee. Dad and Charlie exchanged handshakes before both of them flanked opposite sides of Bella.

Bella and I just looked at each other and smiled. We both knew we were very lucky to have these four people as our parents.

The six of us decided to go grab a bite for lunch and headed to Stellar Pizza. The conversation was light as we each had our own small discussions. After the waiter brought our food, my dad cleared his throat and began to speak.

"After Edward and I talked yesterday, Esme and I sat down and had a long conversation about this situation." I had this sudden sense of dread. All this time we had worried about Charlie pulling Bella from school and now could it be my dad was going to try and pull me?

"Given the change in events Esme and I both feel that until this…guy is caught, one or both of us should be here in Seattle."

_Wait? What?_

"Esme can work from anywhere right now and with the connections that she has she was able to find a house for us to rent here in Seattle for as long as is needed. Esme is going to stay here and I will go back and forth between Chicago as needed for work."

Everything was very still at the table, no one was eating, all eyes on dad.

"Charlie, Renee, the house we are taking is a good sized house with several bedrooms and we want you to know that you are welcome to stay there any time for as long as you want. It is in a security manned and gated neighborhood not far from here, so if Bella and Edward ever feel like they need to just get away from…well just get away there is plenty of room for them there also."

Everyone was still silent.

"I know classes end for the semester in about two weeks and then I guess the kids have three weeks break before school starts back. We were thinking instead of going home during that time we would stay here for Christmas and would love it if your family would join us here for that." Dad was addressing Charlie directly now.

"In addition to asking you to spend Christmas with us, we would like to invite you all to go with us to Cannon Beach in Oregon for New Year's. One of the guys at work has a house there and has offered to let us use it for a few days around New Year's. If you want we could leave they day after Christmas and stay there until classes start back for Bella and Edward."

Charlie sat there quietly. He seemed to be speechless but I could see his mind racing.

"I know it's a lot to throw at you both all at once Charlie. I'll be honest, Esme and I are both scared about what could possibly happen to either Bella or Edward and I am sure you both feel the same way." He said as he looked back and forth between Charlie and Renee. "This isn't charity, it's just one set of concerned parents extended an invitation to another set of concerned parents. We are both in the same boat now because our children are together. We want you to know that we love Bella, as if she were our own and our concern is as much for her as it is for Edward."

"We feel the same way about Edward." Renee said. "Don't we Charlie?"

"We do." He paused for a moment and I couldn't help but take that moment to feel humbled that Charlie felt that way that he accepted like that.

"Carlisle, Esme, your offer is very generous and we would be honored to join you here for Christmas and Cannon Beach for the New Year."

Esme and Renee both squealed and then looked over at Bella and I who were both sitting there a little shocked by everything that had just happened.

In a five minute conversation my parents decided to move temporarily to Seattle, invited Bella and her family to spend Christmas and New Year's with us and Charlie admitted to liking me maybe even caring enough about me to love me like a son.

"Of course that is if Bella and Edward are ok with this." Carlisle said not sure of our reactions.

I looked over at Bella who had the beginnings of the biggest smile growing on her face. She nodded her head yes. I had a feeling she was dreading the idea of three weeks apart from each other as much as I was but now, now our parents had taken care of that for us and to top it all off were asking for our approval.

"I think that sounds like a great idea." I said trying to hide my exuberance.

Three weeks with Bella, away from school, away from him and his sick, twisted, shit!

It was the best Christmas present anybody could ask for.

* * *

A/N: A much needed break lies ahead in the next chapter for our love birds.

Reviews, questions and comments are always welcomed.


	20. Chapter 20

**SM owns all things Twilight**

This was originally going to be one chapter but as I started writing it,

I didn't want to more or less jump a month's time span in one chapter and I

wanted both POV's. So here is the beginning of the month leading up to Christmas from Bella's POV.

Christmas and New Year's will be from Edward's POV in the next chapter.

Thank you for the all the love!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

Edward and I sat there the rest of lunch with the biggest grins on our faces. It was like a dream, this amazing gift that our parents had given us.

I had been dreading Christmas break. It was one of those things where I felt everyone else would think it was silly to be so upset about being away from Edward after we had been together for such a short amount of time. But for me it didn't matter if we had been together for three minutes or for three years. I would never be able to properly explain to anybody other than Edward, but I knew that he was the one I would spend the rest of my life with. This wasn't just some silly crush or the kind of teenage love where you know they are your world until the next world comes along. This was so much more than that. This was everything, he was everything.

I felt it from the first moment I met him, I just didn't know what _it_was at that time. I always believed in the romances I read about in books and saw in movies, I just never believed it could happen to me. The idea of who I thought was the right one seemed to be just that, an idea, the silly dreams of an overly romantic soul. I mean is there really the perfect combination of William Darcy, Edward Ferrars, Lloyd Doppler, Jerry Maguire and Paul Childs all rolled up in the body and face of Orlando Bloom out there? But he was out there. Edward was all of that and more.

When we told the others about our plans, Alice literally drooped with sadness. I knew it would be hard on her to lose Jasper and me for that long a period of time. Carlisle of course made it all better when he told her that she and Emmett were welcomed to stay at the house as long as they wanted and that he had already invited Peter and Charlotte to the house in Cannon Beach for New Years and that they had said yes. Of course Jasper and Rose both were invited as well and they made plans to come there after Christmas. It was everything I could have hoped for, bringing in the New Year surrounded by my family.

The last few weeks of the semester seemed to go by in a blur, finishing up projects, papers and exams. Kate had been instrumental in helping me with the classes I had missed, especially Speech. I think she may have played the _"Does the school really want the bad press?"_ card considering the huge possibility the creep was somehow associated with the school, either as a student or employee and that the attack happened on campus. It was a little underhanded but I couldn't complain too loudly because it really helped to save my ass. It wasn't my nature to miss class like I had, but sometimes things are out of our nature.

The ever increasing unmarked police car presence on campus probably assisted my cause as well. They were good about not hovering over Edward and me, but we knew they were there.

Sam and Jake were both in contact with us at least once a day. The e-mails to Edward were still coming on a daily basis, but he never saw them. The police tech unit worked with University IT to have it set up so any e-mails coming to Edward from the creeps address were automatically captured and sent to the police. Sam and Jake would tell us about them, but never showed them to us. We were in our own cocoon of police protection.

The Violent Crimes Unit had brought the Behavioral Analysis Unit on as well and they were profiling the creep in hopes of determining his next step and to get a better idea of who he was.

He was a presence that was always there, but we both were doing our best not to let him consume our lives. Luckily there was enough going on with exams and Christmas shopping to help occupy our minds. Although with my own personal security detail, shopping was a little tricky. The day I went with Edward I finally figured out what to get him but of course couldn't do anything about it than. The next day Emmett brought me and while I was doing additional shopping I found one for Emmett. The same thing happened the next day when Jasper took me. So I asked Edward to bring me back out again for a fourth day. I hated shopping, unless it was in a Williams-Sonoma so this was kind of like torture. It was so much easier when I could do it on my own at my own pace. But that was just another one of those little things in my life I had to learn to adjust because of him.

My sessions with Kate were really helping me out a great deal with the little things as well as the bigger things. We spent a lot of time talking about the conversation Edward and I had the night we found out about the website, about his fear of me losing myself because of the creep. Kate has been adamant with me that I understand it was not my fault, that nothing I did prompted this.

I would never say I was an introvert but I really wasn't one to walk up to a stranger and talk to them either. But I did smile at others as I passed them and would often say hello. If I saw someone in need of help or even just a hug I would be there for them. It was just how I had always been. I didn't want that to go away and in order for that to happen I had to know that no matter what I couldn't allow myself to think I had done this. I knew that I couldn't change who I was because of this.

After that night though I caught myself a couple of times looking down at the ground whenever I would pass a guy or found myself looking around me trying to figure out if someone was taking my picture or filming me. When I did, it would piss me off, a little at myself for letting him do that to me but mostly at him for doing that to me. Talking to Kate, Edward or Jasper after I had those moments helped a great deal. They all reminded me that those moments would come, that having them wasn't weak, and that I had to remember to let them pass and then I could find more strength in myself when they were gone.

We also talked about my fear of something happening to Edward. The thought of the creep hurting Edward was more than I could stand. I thought about letting him go that night, of making him leave me to protect him, but Kate and Edward both let me know that if I did the creep would win and that it wouldn't make him go away. And Edward and I would both be crushed in the process.

I knew deep down that if push came to shove I couldn't do it whether it meant he won or not. I was too much in love with Edward to lose him. It was the one time in my life I was being selfish. It would hurt too much and I wasn't strong enough for that kind of pain. So I let the fact the sessions and Edward were building my strength be an excuse, but I knew this was the one thing I would do for myself.

When exams ended and the dorms were closed down for the break we moved over to the house Carlisle and Esme had rented. Esme and mom were both staying in Seattle full time while Carlisle and dad had been coming on weekends. Alice and Emmett, after saying goodbye to Rose and Jasper, came and stayed at the house for a few days before going home for Christmas.

Alice hated leaving Jasper again and I felt a little bit guilty to have Edward with me. She did her best to hide it, but when Alice was the least bit sad everyone knew it. She didn't mope or whine, she just wasn't her normal self, she was like everyone else and for Alice that wasn't normal.

Before everyone went their separate ways we decided that the six of us would celebrate Christmas together at Cannon Beach, having our own little party and exchanging gifts than.

After Alice and Emmett went back to Forks I spent a lot of time in the kitchen at the house because it was amazing. It had double ovens and an island that was huge so there was plenty of prep space. The refrigerator was commercial sized as were the gas stoves. It was like a stainless steel oasis.

When we walked into the kitchen the first time, I noticed Edward's grin. When I asked him about it he just said it was like watching a kid at Christmas, the way my eyes lit up and the smile on my face.

I even got Edward in the kitchen with me a few times so I could give him some more cooking lessons. I so thoroughly enjoyed that time with him and he would become so enthralled in what I was teaching him. The two of us working together, moving in tandem as we maneuvered the kitchen to create a culinary delight was more than I could ever have dreamed of in a relationship and I found it to be sort of sexy.

We would spend our time together talking about everything and nothing. Being in the kitchen together, sharing one of my greatest passions and having great conversations was even more evidence to me that he was the one. Edward was my soul mate.

A few days before Christmas Edward and I were making Crème Brule for dessert for dinner that night. I was showing him the proper way to split a vanilla bean when Esme walked into the kitchen and came over to where we were.

"What are you kids doing?"

"A follow up cooking lesson with Edward on Crème Brule." I answered.

Esme peered around Edward's arm and watched him splitting the bean.

"Bella that smells like you do sweetie."

"It's her body wash mom, she has this thing for vanilla and she uses vanilla scented body wash."

Esme looked at Edward for a moment and than a huge smile crossed her lips.

"Well that explains a lot." She said laughing to herself.

"What?" Edward and I both asked her at the same time.

"When Edward was home for Thanksgiving I caught him a couple of times in the kitchen sniffing my bottle of vanilla and I was afraid he had begun huffing the stuff."

"MOM!" Edward said with total embarrassment in his voice and cheeks.

"What, there is alcohol in vanilla. Now I know he was just missing you sweetie." Esme squeezed my arm as she walked by me on her way out of the room laughing. "Renee and I are going out shopping for a bit, see you kids later."

Edward wouldn't look at me for the longest time, giving more attention than was necessary to scraping paste out of the bean. The more I thought about his simple little gesture of smelling vanilla to remind him of me the happier it made me feel and the bolder.

Edward and I had many deep long passionate kisses but we always left it there, never going any further, never really exploring each other below the neck. I knew I wasn't ready yet to make love to Edward, not with the creep still lingering out there, but I wanted to explore, could feel it with every inch of my body when he touched me. I wanted to do more than just kiss, wanted to feel and taste more of him.

Being the gentleman he was I knew Edward would never initiate anything more than kisses, not without a prompt from me, so I figured now was as good a time as any to try and show him what I was feeling.

"Edward, I think it's sweet." I said hoping to get him to look at me.

"I think it's embarrassing." He mumbled under his breath. His attention was still on the vanilla bean.

I stopped his hands and brought them up to my lips kissing them seductively while inhaling the smell of vanilla.

"I think it's romantic."

"Bella…" he started to quietly say but I leaned into him and kissed his lips, gently at first and then with more passion. I opened my mouth and let my tongue glide across his lips seeking entrance into his mouth which he gave me quickly. I stepped closer and wrapped my hands around his neck and up into his hair grabbing on as I deepened the intensity of my tongue seeking out his. He moaned as he pulled my body into his tighter and as the intensity of our kisses grew he picked me up and sat me on the counter so that our faces were level and our kisses could be that much deeper. He positioned himself in between my legs and began gently moving the back of his hands and fingers up and down the sides of my arms.

On his second pass up my arm his fingers gently grazed the side of my breasts and the feeling sent a warm jolt throughout my whole body causing me to arch my back into his touch, my body wanting more. He took my cue and let his fingers move in from my arm to my chest and he moved them gently up and down the outer sides of my breasts.

"Edward." I moaned in a breathy whisper. The feeling of his hands on me like that was doing things to my body I had never felt before. It was the feeling of liquid warmth that I had that first night we kissed but only a hundred times greater.

Our kiss was now more gentle, playful and sexy. We each let our tongues explore the other's outside of our mouths, such a gentle sweet exploration.

His fingers worked their way into my breasts and began to circle my nipples. I could feel them hardening to his touch. I could feel the rest of my body moving in closer to him as his did the same. I let my hands fall from his hair and down to his waist. I slowly lifted the end of his shirt and let my fingertips glide up his waist and chest. I could feel the definition of his muscles and the warmth of his skin. I started to move my hand further up his chest when the sound of laughter stopped both of us in our tracks.

We sat there, our lips and hands still on the other for about two seconds when we realized both of our dads were home and moving closer to coming in the kitchen.

We quickly separated and he helped me jump down from the counter. He went back to the vanilla beans and I went over to the pot with the cream and turned it on. Edward was moving back and forth trying to adjust himself and when I realized why he was doing this I could feel my face getting even redder than I knew it already was.

"Edward, are you cooking?" Carlisle asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Yes." His voice squeaked. I had to bite my lip to fight back the laughter. He cleared his throat before he started to speak again. "Bella is teaching me how to make Crème Brule."

"Well Bella sweetie, you are a better influence on my son than I thought." He said as he walked over to me and drew me into a hug. I bet he wouldn't feel that way if he knew I just kind of tried to seduce his son.

"Yeah her and Renee both tired it with me but were never able to make it stick." Dad said as he followed right behind Carlisle with a hug.

I noticed Edward was not looking at anybody and he seemed to be reciting something quietly to himself. When dad finished hugging me he walked over to Edward and patted him on the back causing him to jump about three feet in the air.

"Whoa settle down son. What's got you so on edge?" Charlie asked with a grin on his face. _Oh shit, did_ _he know?_

"Nothing sir, just concentrating on getting the paste out of this vanilla bean. Don't want to disappoint Bella." He still would not look at dad or Carlisle.

"Well Charlie, why don't we let these two get back to their lesson and let's go get settled in." I saw Carlisle shoot dad a smirk of a smile and they both tried to hide their laughs as they walked out of the kitchen.

They both knew, maybe not exactly what we were doing, but they knew we were doing something.

I turned back to the cream trying to get the idea of my dad knowing out of my head. Edward walked up behind me and added the paste on his knife into the cream. He was standing so that his body was right up against mine, both of his arms surrounding me. He leaned down into my ear and I could feel his warm, sweet breath on my neck.

"Not that I am complaining, but just what was that?" He whispered as his lips caressed my neck. The feel of them on my skin brought back all of those feelings that were so rudely interrupted by our dads.

"There is just something about you in the kitchen with me that turns me on." I whispered back as I tilted my head to let his lips explore more of my neck.

"Then you and I must cook together some more." His lips were moving up and down my neck and as he got to my ear, he took my lobe in his mouth and started to suck on it. The first time he had done this to me it sent a shudder through out my body and this time it was a full on current. I let out a whisper of a moan remembering our dads were roaming around the house somewhere.

"Bella." Edward said letting go of my ear lobe.

"Um." I whispered leaning back into him more.

"Bella sweetie." He said moving away from me a bit. I hated losing the feeling of him on me.

"Bella the cream!" His voice was urgent and I opened my eyes in time to see the cream beginning to boil up the sides of the pot.

"Shit!" I said as I tried to regain my senses. I managed to get the boiling mess off the heat before it went over the edge of the pot.

"You were right, it is temperamental." Edward said trying to hide his laughter. I turned around ready to smack him and his attempts were lost. He fell against the island, burying his head in his arms still trying to hide his laughter from me.

"You think that's funny do you?" He looked up at the sight of me standing there with my arms crossed. He just shook his head yes and fell back onto the island, laughing even harder.

"Well let's see how funny you think it is when I go inform my daddy of where your hands just were." I walked past him and headed for the door, making sure I brushed up against so he would know I was walking towards the door.

"You wouldn't." He shot up from his crouch. All signs of laughter gone. Before I knew it he was in front of me, begging me not to.

I tried to keep the guise up, but it was too hard watching him tremble. I looked down for a second and then slowly lifted my head giving him a shy look and a mischievous smile.

"That is not funny Isabella Swan!" he said trying to act mad.

"Neither is laughing at me in the kitchen Edward Cullen!" I answered him with my hands on my hips!

"Truce?" he asked weakly with his hands up in the air

"Truce." I grinned at him and crinkled my nose.

After our truce we went back to making dessert. When mom and Renee got back from shopping I helped them with dinner and the six of us spent the rest of the evening talking.

It was interesting to me to watch our parents interacting with each other. It was like they had been friends forever instead of a few weeks. I truly believed that Edward and I were meant to be together and maybe in the grand scheme of things that meant that our parents were suppose to be together too.

The next night our parents went out to dinner together and Edward and I decided to do something that was just the two of us. We ate at this little Sushi place and after dinner stopped by a local rental place to look for a few movies to take back to the house and watch.

We were looking at the different selections when I ran across the movie _Big Night_. After learning Edward had not seen the movie I began telling him about what a great food lover's movie it was and how we should rent it. We picked out two additional movies and headed home.

I noticed that he seemed to be deep in thought since I told him about _Big Night_.

"Edward."

"Yes Bella Luna." He answered but seeming to be still lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You."

"Good answer, but seriously, you seem to be lost in thought, are you worried about something?" I was concerned he was trying to avoid telling me.

"Honestly I was thinking about you." And that as all he said. He didn't seem to want to say anything more.

We had just pulled up to the house. He turned the car off and got out to come and open my door for me. I just looked at him as he stood there with his hand out for me to take to help me out of the car.

"Bella honestly, I'm ok."

I took his hand in mine and let him help me out but as he closed the door I just stood there in the cold December air waiting for him to tell me more.

"Ok, so I know it sounds kind of silly, but I was just thinking about your future."

"What exactly about my future have you been thinking about?" I was start to get a little worried and irritated at the same time.

"It's not bad I promise." He stood there trying to get me to move, but I wouldn't budge. "You are so stubborn sometimes it drives me crazy!" He grumbled.

"Than just tell me what you were thinking about."

"If I promise to tell you will you please come inside first?" I stood there for a moment longer. I was being stubborn but it was getting really cold so I agreed.

"Ok, but only if you promise me first."

"Scouts honor!" He said holding his fingers up and then crossing an x over his heart.

We took our coats off and went into the family room and sat down on the couch.

"I was listening to you talk about that movie _Big Night_, and I couldn't get over this passion that you have about you when it comes to anything that has to do with cooking or food. You seem to get into this zone when you cook or even just talk about it. You should have seen yourself that day at Pike's Public Market. It was like you were made to be there, talking to those vendors, like you were meant for that life. I wasn't the only one who saw it that day, those vendors that you talked to, they were drawn to you, drawn to the passion that you have for anything culinary. It's beautiful Bella, truly beautiful. It's like watching an artist. Some people work in clay or paint but you, you work in cream, eggs and chocolate."

I was shocked. This was not the way I thought this conversation was going.

"I know you said you want to be a writer and the stuff that I have read, it is really very good, but I don't see that passion in you when it comes to writing. And I love to see that passion in you, love to see the way you beam and I can't help but wonder what the future holds for you with that much passion inside waiting to get out. I wonder if maybe you should be doing something in the culinary field and not in writing."

"Why did you seem to be afraid to tell me that?" I asked still trying to figure out his hesitancy about telling me this.

"I didn't want you to think I was trying to influence your mind about anything or that I was trying to get you to leave school here and go somewhere else."

I leaned him and kissed his lips gently, smiling at my silly worry wart.

"Edward, you telling me what you are thinking doesn't make me feel like you are trying to change my future or set a direction for me. You're right; I do have a passion for all things culinary. Whether it be cooking or talking about food. I thought long and hard about it before I decided on where I was going to school. I know people think I came here mainly because of Alice but that isn't the case at all. It would have been hard to leave her and go somewhere else, but we would have managed it just fine. I do love to cook and it makes me so happy to cook for others, but I don't want to work in or own my own restaurant. The hours are too long and the egos can be too big and I just don't want to deal with any of that."

"But that doesn't mean I cannot still do something in Culinary Arts and still be a writer. Since we first talked about it that day I have thought a lot about the direction I could go with my future. I could write cookbooks, or be a writer for one of the shows on Food Network or hell even try and develop my own show for that matter. The good thing is I know what I don't want to do as far as Culinary Arts and writing in general, so that leaves the door open for me to explore all of the possibilities about what I do want to do. Besides, I'm only 18, it's not like I have to decide what I am going to do for the rest of my life today. I have done some research into the Communication major here and think it might be the way to go for now. As I get closer to leaving school I figure out what direction to take it beyond that."

"I'm sorry; I should have known you would have things figured out." He said laughing to himself.

"There is no need to apologize Edward. It's sweet that you are thinking about me like that and that you just want me to be happy. You know it's funny, for all of our conversations; I don't know that we have ever really talked about what we were thinking about beyond our general majors. For instance I know you are pre-med, but I have never asked you want field of medicine you want to get into."

"Well, I'm still not a hundred percent sure yet. Dad is a surgeon and a really great one, but I don't think that is the way I want to go. I have thought about ER, Pediatrics and General Practice. Dad and I have talked a lot about it and he said the best thing for me to do is once I get into Medical School, really find the one area that appeals to me most."

"Where are you thinking about going to Medical School?" I asked never really thinking about him going to school somewhere else.

"Well there are a few I have looked into actually. UCLA which would keep me out here on the West Coast, North Western in Chicago which would put me close to home, Harvard of course because well it's Harvard. But I also really like the idea of either Duke or North Carolina. They both have really good programs and let's face it really good basketball programs." He winked at me with those last words and I tried to smile back but it suddenly hit me that he could very well be on the other side of the country away from me in a year and a half.

"Bella, where ever I go, the decision will involve you." He said as if he was reading my mind. "Sweetie, when I say I love you, I mean forever. When I said I could see my children in your eyes, I really meant that. I see this as forever. You are my forever and where ever I decide to go, you will be a part of that."

I sat there for a moment, lost in his beautiful words.

"Edward, I want you to know, I would never try and influence your decision on where you go to Medical School…" he started to interrupt me but I put my hand up more or less asking him to let me finish. "But I need you to know one thing."

"What?" He hesitantly asked.

"I like North Carolina better than Duke." I said with a coy smile on my face. "That Duke coach, he looks a bit like a rat to me."

"Well now that we have that cleared up!" He said laughing and pulling me into him, kissing my forehead.

He grabbed _Big Night _and put it the DVD player and we settled into each other's arms to watch the movie.

We didn't need to have our future all planned out for us tonight. We could just be with each other knowing that we had a future together.

* * *

A/N: In case any of you were wondering about Bella's perfect guy,

William Darcy - Pride and Prejudice

Edward Ferrars - Sense and Sensibility

Lloyd Doppler - the movie _Say Anything _(which has one of the greatest most heartbreaking lines ever - _"She gave me a pen, I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.")_

Jerry Maguire - the movie _Jerry Maguire _(I love all things Cameron Crowe.)

Paul Childs - Husband of the late great Julia Childs. He loved his wife with such a passion and shared hers for food!

Sorry if I offended any Duke fans with the coach comment, but the man does look like a rat! Die hard Carolina girl and that is just how we feel! :) Beyond that though both schools do have really good medical programs and really good basketball programs!

Reviews, questions and comments are always welcomed and much loved!


	21. Chapter 21

**SM owns all things Twilight**

So this chapter is long and full of fluff! Smell of citrus in the air and it isn't coming from the kitchen!

Thank you all for the love!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One**

I crept down the hall as quietly as I could hoping not to disturb any of our parents. It was Christmas morning and I felt like I did when I was a kid, sneaking downstairs to see what Santa had left. But this Christmas morning I wasn't looking for an empty plate of cookies and a half drunk glass of milk, I was going to check on Bella to make sure she was ok.

I knew she was, but my dreams were telling me otherwise so I had to go make sure.

Bella's dreams had gotten better. She said it had been a good week since she had even had a nightmare about the creep let alone woken up in terror laden screams.

I on the other hand was not so lucky. Ever since seeing that damn video, my dreams had been filled with the worst images. Images of that night, of his hands on her, of the awful things he did and said. I would bolt up out of my sleep, sweat dripping down my face and neck, my covers thrown off the bed as if I had been fighting or running.

I hadn't told anyone about my dreams, hadn't let on about my fears. So every night when I would wake up with a jolt, I would sneak down the hall to check on Bella. She was always sound asleep, always beautiful and always safe.

As I made my way into her room and sat in the chair across the room from her bed, I listened to the sound of her breathing. It was calm and steady, heavenly sounding actually. Like the way a baby sleeps. Content and without a care in the world. I immediately felt better knowing she was ok, knowing that she was happy.

The past week and a half at the house had been good for Bella, truth be told it had been good for all of us really. She was in her own little world when she was in the kitchen cooking and she had been in that world a good deal. She was so beautiful to watch in the kitchen. It was like watching an artist or athlete, perfecting their craft. She moved with such grace and ease. She would make the sexiest faces when she would smell the creations she was mastering and hum with delight when she tasted them.

I loved Bella in the kitchen. It wasn't like I was some old fashion guy who wanted his woman barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen with his dinner waiting for him when he got home. Besides Bella was far from being that kind of an old fashion woman. I did have to admit though; the thought of Bella pregnant with my child was incredibly sexy. But it was something else to watch her in the kitchen. Bella was otherworldly when she was cooking. It was like watching an angel. She was so happy that she had a glow to her, an actual glow, like an angel would.

As I sat there in the chair across the room from her bed and thought about the angelic glow of my sweet beautiful Bella and listened to the melodic rhythm of her breathing, I could feel my body lighten, my fears wash away. I found the beautiful peace that is her presence and drifted off to a dreamless slumber.

I was awoken by a gentle nudge of my arm. I opened my eyes to a semi dark room, light pouring in from the door. I could see Bella sleeping in her bed. I looked up confused and was met with Bella's brown eyes staring back at me from her father's face. A face that I couldn't determine the look on but I was sure was anger.

"Charlie I…" He cut me off putting his finger to his lips to silence me and nodded his head to the door telling me to follow him out of the room.

As I followed him to the kitchen, I felt like a very guilty little boy even though I had done nothing wrong. The last thing I wanted Charlie to think was that Bella and I were trying to sneak around with our parents under the same roof.

As we made our way into the kitchen and out of ear shot of disturbing the others in the house, I started my explanation again.

"Charlie, we weren't doing anything. I just went…"

"I know Edward." He said cutting me off again. The look on his face wasn't anger, it was concern. "Trust me I have been to her room enough to know you two aren't up to anything."

I felt a little more at ease but then I wondered if his checking up on her was to make sure we weren't in there together.

"I imagine you were in there for the same reason I was, you were making sure she was ok weren't you?" Charlie asked as if reading my mind. His tone held no anger at all; instead it held an understanding compassion.

"Yes sir." I answered.

"Did something prompt your concerns?"

"Dreams." I answered.

It was a simple one word response, but seeing the look on Charlie's face I knew the meaning behind that one word was endless.

"Yeah me too." He said as he walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. "That damn video!" He whispered. It wasn't a hug of pity; it was a hug of mutual understanding, an understanding that neither of us was alone in our nightly torments.

Charlie cleared his throat and we broke apart from our hug. He leaned up against the island and stood there for a moment deep in thought before he spoke again.

"I'm glad it was you that she ran into that night Edward." I looked at him not quite sure what he meant by that. "I know that it's not the only reason that the two of you are together and I do believe you two would have eventually gotten together if this hadn't happened." He paused for a minute and I could tell he was letting his anger subside before he spoke any further. "But since it did happen I'm glad it was you who was there for her and not some random guy or really anyone else for that matter."

"I'm glad it was me too Charlie."

"I always told Renee it was going to take a strong man to capture Bella's heart. Even though she is quiet, she is very head strong and sure of what she wants. I saw too many guys in her life think that because she was quiet she was timid only to watch them turn coat and run once they really talked to her. I actually witnessed it one night during a football game. Bella screamed out at the ref who made a terrible call. When she looked at this kid Seth to see what he thought he just shrugged his shoulders and I could tell he had no clue what she was talking about. I could literally see the change on his face and sure enough they never went out again after that."

"I love that she is so passionate about sports, find it really sexy…uh I mean intelligent about her sir." _Shit did I really just tell Charlie I thought he daughter was sexy._

I looked up at him and he was biting his lip like Bella does but he was trying not to laugh at my stammering.

"Yeah well you're different Edward, you see Bella for all that she is and all that she can be and it doesn't intimidate you. Like I said I knew it was going to take a strong man, a man who is confident enough in himself to see Bella and not just a pretty girl who is quiet. Some guys want a trophy, but I can tell you want more and you're lucky to have found that in Bella."

"Very lucky Charlie."

"She's lucky too Edward." He said patting me on the shoulder. All I could do was smile; if I tried to speak my words would have been drowned out by tears of joy.

"What do you say we fix breakfast for everyone else? I'm sure they will be waking up soon." Charlie said knowing I was at a loss for words.

I looked over at the clock on the stove and saw that it 6:45 in the morning.

"Sure, what should we fix?" I asked getting my voice back. I wasn't sure either of us was capable of much beyond grilled cheese.

"Well I'm actually pretty good at omelets and I would imagine with all of the training that Bella has given you this week, you could handle chopping ingredients and maybe some toast and coffee?" He gave me a quick wink and chuckled as he turned to the refrigerator and began pulling out ingredients.

"Merry Christmas Edward." He said as he handed me some peppers and tomatoes.

"Merry Christmas Charlie." I replied before getting to my task at hand.

We had breakfast almost completed as the others began to stir and by the time everyone was up we were ready to sit down and have breakfast together as a family on Christmas morning.

Bella, mom and Renee had spent the better part of Christmas Eve cooking so apart from putting the ham in the oven and warming up the side dishes, there wasn't a need to spend a good deal of time preparing for Christmas dinner.

We were going to exchange gifts after dinner and that left the majority of the day to just hang out.

Bella and I snuggled up on the couch in the family room and watched Christmas themed movies. I would never tire of watching a movie with Bella. She excitedly matched saying the entire dialogue of _How the Grinch_ _Stole Christmas_, cried at what she said was the beautiful childhood innocence of _The Polar Express_ and was so excited about the happy endings of _The Holiday_ and _Love Actually._

A little before dinner, Alice and Emmett called to say Merry Christmas. After the phone was passed around to everyone, Bella excused herself to her room to talk to Alice in private. She had been gone for about thirty minutes when Renee asked me to go and check on her and let her know dinner was just about ready.

I was about to knock on her door which was cracked a bit when I heard her ending her call with Alice.

"I miss you too Alice. Just a few more days and then you guys will be with us and Jasper will be with you and everything will be back in balance for you. Head up young person, you can do this. I know you can."

Just like my beautiful Bella always trying to comfort others.

"I love you my little pixie and tell our big bear Em I love him too."

"Merry Christmas Alice! Bye"

I heard Bella click her phone off and I knocked on the door as if I had just come upon it.

"Bella, your mom wanted you to know dinner was almost ready." I said pushing the door open slightly.

She was sitting on the bed and I could tell that she had been crying.

"Bella sweetie, are you ok?" I said rushing over to where she was on the bed.

"I'm fine Edward . Alice was a little down and it just made me sad not to be there for her."

"My sweet Saint Bella, Patron Saint of Caring for all those around her." I said as I pulled her into a hug. She chuckled and swatted lightly at my arm.

"Speaking of saints, I have something for you." She pulled out of our hug and walked over to the dresser and pulled out a small box wrapped in shiny red wrapping paper.

"It's just a little something, I mean I have more for you upstairs, but I wanted to give this to you alone. I saw it and knew I had to get it for you." She hesitated for a moment and then sat back on the bed handing me the box.

I chuckled a little at her shyness about giving me the gift and pulled the wrapping paper off to reveal a small white box. I opened the little white jewelry sized box and inside was a small pewter coin with an angel imprinted on it, the words _Guardian Angel_ imprinted below it. I took the coin out and as I lifted it I could tell something was printed on the other side. I flipped it over to read _An angel is someone you are always happy to bump into._

"Bumping into you that night was the best thing that ever happened to me." She said. "You're my Guardian Angel Edward. I know I'm safe when I'm with you. I know I'm loved."

The words on the coin became fuzzy as tears began to cloud my vision. "Bella…I…" I looked up at her and I had no other words. I suddenly felt like the Grinch, my heart growing ten sizes plus two at that moment for all of the love that I felt for her and from her.

She smiled at me and leaned in to kiss the tears away from my cheeks. "I love you too Edward." Her kisses trailed gently down from my cheeks to my lips and I pulled her into me, tightly holding onto my coin. Our kiss became more passionate as we held each other tighter and became consumed by the love that was pouring out of our souls at that moment.

"Kids. Dinner." Mom yelled from upstairs.

"Damn it!" I grumbled as my lips still hung to hers.

"We better go." She chuckled as she pulled her lips away. She leaned her forehead against mine and sighed before getting up off the bed.

"Are you coming?" She asked as she turned to see me still sitting there.

"Yeah, just need a moment." I said trying to gather myself.

"Take your time sweetie." She said as she walked over to me and pulled me into a hug, my head nestling into her chest. The smell of vanilla engulfed my senses and calmed my mind.

She kissed the top of my head before leaving to go upstairs. I sat there for a moment staring at my coin. I still couldn't believe I was lucky enough to have this beautiful girl in my life. This girl, who loved me, truly loved me and thought of me as her Guardian Angel. I let out a contented sigh and kissed the coin, putting it in my pocket knowing it would be with me for the rest of my life and headed upstairs to dinner.

After dinner we gathered around the Christmas tree in the family room to exchange presents. Esme and Renee had done a beautiful job of decorating the house and even though it wasn't any of ours they made it feel like a home and not just a temporary hiding place.

Bella giggled like a little girl when she opened the present from Mom and Dad and pulled out a huge basket filled with vanilla scented bath wash, lotion and other bath related items. The Crème Brule ramekin set also got her giddy. While the new camera from her parents made her smile brightly it was the sapphire circle necklace and earrings that made her eyes mist up a bit. When she opened my present with the movies _Wall*E, Step Into Liquid_ and a stuffed sting ray that was smiling at her and a stuffed dolphin she laughed and crinkled her nose up at me.

Charlie and Renee, well really Charlie more than Renee gave me a fishing pole and a tackle box as well as some clothes and an iTunes gift card.

"Going to have to get you out on the water soon, maybe this coming weekend at Cannon Beach?" Charlie said with a hopeful grin on his face.

"Sure thing Charlie!" I laughed back.

Mom and Dad gave me a new laptop which was like giving a small child a new video game. I could not put it down at first. Bella convinced me to do so when she handed me a large box. Once I unwrapped and opened the box there were additional wrapped boxes inside. I groaned a little and looked up to see the shit eating grin on her face.

"A bit full of yourself aren't you Bella Luna!" I said trying not to laugh. Opening all of these was going to drive me crazy. She just grinned and held her head up high as if she was very proud of herself.

Once I got all ten of the boxes opened, among my gifts was a box set of Cohen Brothers movies including _Raising Arizona_ which drew comments from Charlie about that being his and Bella's favorite movie. She had also gotten me an Italian cookbook. I looked at her with confusion on that one.

"We are going to pull a _Julie and Julia_. Ok so maybe we won't blog and not put a time line on it, but you and I are going to cook our way through that book together." She said and winked at me. My mind was suddenly filled with the sexy possibilities of cooking our way through this book together and what other activities that may lead too! I had to quickly clear my head remembering both of our parents were in the room with us and that it was not the most appropriate place to have hard issues to deal with so to speak!

After all of the presents were opened and mom and Renee were cleaning up wrapping paper to recycle, mom looked over at me with a big smile on her face.

"Edward, dear, what is that still under the tree?"

"It looks like a present mom." I nonchalantly answered.

"Well I wonder whose it could be." She responded with a grin. She reached under the tree and pulled the small box out handing it to me.

"It has Bella's name on it, must be something Santa left." I said still trying to keep a straight face.

Bella looked at me for a moment with confusion. I put the box on her lap and she examined it a bit before opening it. Her eyes got very big when she opened the box and as she pulled out the Pandora bracelet, tears started to form in her eyes.

"Mom helped me pick it out." I said quietly.

"Don't let him fool you sweetie, this was all him, all I did was suggest a type of charm bracelet." Mom answered looking at me with such pride in her eyes.

Bella looked at each of the three charms on the bracelet, lovingly inspecting each item. There was a silver breadbasket, a sapphire bead and a small oval that said _I love you_.

"I figured three charms was a good start and then we can add to it each year with items that are significant to that year."

"Edward…it's…it's just beautiful." She said trying to talk through her tears.

She handed the bracelet to me and extended her arm out wanting me to put it on her wrist. After I clasped the bracelet on I kissed the back of her hand and she got up out of her chair and kneeled in front of me pulling me into a hug.

"I love you so much Edward. This is the best gift ever." She whispered into my ear. I could feel the tears softly rolling down her face.

I nuzzled my head into her neck not really paying attention to the fact our parents had left the room to give the two of us a moment together. I could feel the warmth of safety knowing my Guardian Angel coin was in my pocket and that we were together.

Holding her like this, knowing that there would be a lifetime of charms to add ahead of us was the best present I could ever want, need or hope for.

The next day we made the four hour journey from Seattle to Cannon Beach. Charlie and Renee rode with mom and dad in the SUV they rented and Bella and I followed them in my car. Peter and Charlotte were going to drive down the next day. Emmett and Alice were picking up Rose and Jasper from the airport and coming down the next day as well. They were all going to stay through New Year's.

We had been driving for about an hour and a half and Bella had been unusually quiet. She looked to be in deep thought as she twirled her charm bracelet around on her wrist. Her silence was driving me crazy.

"Bella Luna, what are you so deep in thought over?" I asked trying to get her to talk to me.

"Edward I need to talk to you about something, but I'm not sure how to say what I want." She looked very nervous, her eyes still on her bracelet.

"Bella sweetie you can talk to me about anything."

"I know, but this is…well it's kind of embarrassing." She looked out the window and I could see the blush on her face reflecting in the window.

I reached my hand over and ran my finger gently across the side of her cheek. "Bella sweetie, no matter what you can talk to me about anything."

She slowly turned her head to look at me, smiling she took in a deep breath as if to gather courage.

"Edward, I love you with everything that I am, heart, mind, soul and…_body_."

I started to tell her I loved her too, but her pause and then emphasis on the word _body_ caught my attention and I knew I needed her to finish her thought.

"Your kisses have always made me tingle, but the other day in the kitchen, when your fingers moved across my breasts it was so much more than a tingle, it was like a current. I could feel it all the way down to my toes."

I couldn't help the huge grin that possessed my lips at that moment. I held my hand out to her and she took it, not holding on to it but playing with my fingers and gently tracing lines in the palm of my hand. Her eyes now focused on what she was doing to my hand.

"Since our first kiss I knew I wanted to be with you, knew that I wanted you to be…my first." She was almost whisper quiet as she finished her sentence.

Knowing what she and the others had told me about her not really dating that much in high school I had wondered if she was a virgin, but I also knew I never fully allowed myself to think otherwise, the possibility of some other guy touching her in anyway was more than I cared to dwell on. As selfish as it sounded I had to admit to myself I was glad that she was a virgin. It was greedy and selfish I know, but I couldn't help my inner cheer.

"I thought I wanted to wait until the creep was out of our lives but it was crazy of me to do that. Crazy of me to let him control any part of me, especially that part. So I made the decision that day in the kitchen not to let him, not to think about it and now…now all I can think about is you Edward and the way your touch makes me feel. My dreams now are of the two of us together, of you kissing me, exploring me, of you inside of me. I want you Edward, more than anything else right now, I want you." Her fingers were now tracing their way up my arm, my shoulder, my neck and then my ear.

The feel of her fingers tracing my ear lobe and the words she had just spoken overwhelmed my body and I shuddered causing me to swerve the car.

I was able to recover without any physical harm, but mentally I was floored. Bella's giggles let me know she was pleased with my reaction.

"Damn Bella…I…I…"

The buzz of her phone brought me quickly back to reality.

"It's Esme." Bella said trying not to laugh. _Fuck!_ Obviously our parents had seen my stupid car trick.

"Hey Esme." She answered her phone as if nothing were wrong.

"Of course we are ok." I couldn't believe she was able to keep a straight face. "Edward just had a bit of a sneezing fit. The poor thing couldn't control himself and the car as he closed his eyes so he swerved a bit. He did a great job of recovering though and now everything is just great." _Damn this girl was good!_

"Sure, that sounds good, see you in a few." She hung up her phone and turned to look at me with a huge grin on her face. "We are going to stop at the next exit, your dad needs to stretch his legs a bit."

Stretch his legs my ass, he wanted to check on me and quite possibly give me a hard time. I had to pull it together and quickly!

We pulled into a gas station at the next exit and sure enough, dad came over to my car before I was able to get out completely.

"Edward, are you ok son?" I swear he was trying not to laugh.

"I'm fine dad, just must have been some dust in the air." I answered. I could see Bella's body shaking trying to hold back her laughter.

"Maybe you should close the air vents." Charlie said as we walked up beside dad, the same damn look on his face.

"Good idea, thanks." I said trying to keep the blush off my face. I knew I was failing miserably.

"Since we stopped, I'm going to run to the restroom." Renee said as she stepped out of the car.

"Me too." Mom said following Renee.

I walked over to the passenger side and opened the door for Bella. Dad and Charlie followed our moms into the store.

"You think that's funny don't you?" I said holding my hand out for her to take.

"Just a little bit." She smirked as she took it.

I closed the car door and before she could ghost past me, I leaned her back against the car and began kissing her neck, working my way up to her ear. I took her lobe into my mouth and began sucking on it with intensity. Bella held her breath and the noise she made reminded me of that day in my dorm room when I was watching her sing. I told myself than all I wanted was to have her make that noise again.

"I want you too beautiful. I'm ready when you are; you just need to say the word." I whispered into her ear before sucking on her lobe again. She held her breath and again made that glorious sound.

I backed up and started to walk away, a satisfied smirk on my face.

"We should probably utilize this time to take a bathroom break." I said making sure I sounded very grown up. I held my hand out to take hers and watched with delight as she stumbled a bit peeling herself off the car, a perma grin on her face that did not go away until we got to the house at Cannon Beach.

The beach house was exquisite to say the least. There was a four car garage that opened onto a mud room and storage area on the bottom level of the house. The house had a reverse layout so the next level of the house had three bedrooms and each one had its own bathroom. The third level was the main living area. It was an open floor plan with a huge family room on one side and dining room and kitchen on the other that all flowed into one another. There was a large dinner table that was surrounded on two sides by ceiling to floor windows and two sets of glass doors that opened to a semi-wrap porch that looked out on to the Pacific Ocean. There was a huge window over the sink in the kitchen so that no matter where you were in the kitchen you could look out and see the ocean. The main master suite was just off the kitchen. The fourth level of the house had two additional master suites, each having their own bathrooms.

Mom and dad took the main level suite leaving Charlie, Renee, Peter and Charlotte to take the top level suites. The "kids" as mom called us would take the three bedrooms on the second level. No sleeping arrangements were mentioned per say and I think our parents were content to enforce a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it came right down to it.

After we unloaded both cars and put bags in the right places, Bella and I went out to explore the beautiful beach in front of us while mom and Renee started dinner.

As we walked along the beach the tide was going out and tide pools were revealed all around us. Bella's eyes lit up as she explored each pool, careful not to do more than observe the sea creatures inside them. She crouched down beside the pools and stared at each one with a childlike enthusiasm.

We made our way back to the house as the sun began to set. When we reached the walkway back up to the house, we paused to watch the sun setting into the water. The sky and water merged as one in the vibrant colors of red, orange and purple. We were standing arm in arm facing each other and as the sun finally sunk into the water, Bella laid her head against my chest and let out a beautiful sigh.

"We must do this again before we leave." She said contentedly.

"We can do this every day we are here my love." I answered before leaning down and drawing her lips to mine.

After dinner dad, Charlie and I watched a basketball game on TV while Bella, mom and Renee sat out on the balcony and talked. It was cold outside but they each were bundled up in blankets and seemed to be pretty content to be out there.

Mom and Renee decided to go to bed about 10:30 but Bella stayed outside. Dad and Charlie stayed up until the game ended and headed to bed as well. I went outside to find Bella wrapped up in one of the lounge chairs asleep.

The sound of the ocean in the distance was so peaceful and I could see how it had lulled Bella to sleep.

I hated to wake her, but it was getting very cold outside and I worried about her getting sick.

"Bella sweetie, wake up." I gently shook her arm trying to wake her. She stirred a little but showed no signs of waking up. I leaned down next to the chair so I was face to face with her. I moved closer to her and pressed my lips against her.

As if by instinct, her lips began to caress mine and as she began to stir she opened her mouth inviting me in. Our kiss grew more intense and I still wasn't sure if she was awake or not. Could it be possible she thought this was a dream?

There was a gust of cold air that wrapped around my body and despite the heat I felt radiating from me because of this kiss, I couldn't help but shake.

"Oh sweetie, your cold." Bella said breaking our kiss. "Come here." She got up off of the chair and wrapped the blanket around me, pulling me into a cocoon of warmth with her in the center of it. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer to me and resumed our kiss.

The heat generating from our bodies enclosed in the warm security of the blanket began to make it difficult for us to breath or maybe it was just the heat generating from our bodies from the kiss but we had to stop or possibly fall to heat stroke in 36 degree weather.

"Maybe we should go to bed?" Bella asked with a little smirk on her face. I couldn't help the teenaged giggle that escaped my lips.

"Sounds good." I answered trying to keep my excitement contained.

We made our way down to the bed room that we decided we were going to take together hoping our parents would hold true to their pretending to be naïve about us sharing a room together.

Bella excused herself to the bathroom to change into her night clothes and I stood there, my mind racing at the thought of being intimate with Bella in anyway let alone making love to her. I wanted to feel her so badly to be with her so badly but I knew it wouldn't be tonight.

Tonight I wanted it to be about her, about her being completely comfortable with her decision and with us.

I was so lost in my thoughts; I didn't hear her coming out of the bathroom. It wasn't until she wrapped her arms around my waist, sliding her body against my back side that realized she was there. She leaned up on her tip toes and began to kiss the back of my neck and worked her way up to my ear. I reached my hand behind me to feel her body and damn near fell to my knees when I felt her bare skin.

"Bella." I whispered as I turned around to see my stunning beauty standing there in front of me completely naked. The light from the bathroom was silhouetting her body so that every curve radiated. There were no words, no words to describe the beauty that stood before me.

The Art Appreciation professor that taught the Art class we all had to take our freshman year started his class by saying truly beautiful, perfect art could bring you to tears. I thought he was full of shit until this moment. The beauty of Bella's perfect, naked form was true art and I wanted to cry, wanted to let the tears flow at the vision that was before my eyes.

"Bella…" I tried to speak again but could not get anything more than her name out.

She stood there looking up at me with such confidence on her face but the way she shuffled back and forth on her feet I could tell it was taking all that she had to stand before me like this. I found my voice before her confidence left her completely.

"Bella Luna, you, you are perfect." I said as I walked over to her and pulled her into a deep kiss. Our lips melted into one another instantly as if they were made for one another only.

I could feel her confidence build as she took the back of my hair into her hands and pulled me deeper into our kiss with fire. I pulled her tiny perfect body up so that she was face to face with me. She wrapped her legs around my waist and I could feel the heat pulsating from the most intimate part of her on my stomach.

I walked us over to the bed and gently laid her down, never breaking our kiss until I had her resting on the pillows. I broke our kiss and looked into her eyes, so full of love and passion.

"I love you Bella."

She gave me the most amazing smile. "I love you Edward."

"Bella may I explore your body?"

She nodded her head yes, never taking her eyes off of mine. I sat up beside her so I could look at her perfect form and began to trace her body with my finger tips. I let my fingers gently glide across every inch of her body, tracing the lines of her as if I was sculpting her. Her body reacted to each touch of my fingers and she let out the sexiest of sounds.

I let myself touch her whole body leaving the most intimate parts of her for last. I traced them back up the side of her thigh, past her waist, up her rib cage and to her breast. I let my finger tips circle her right breast starting from the outside slowly working my way in until I connected with her nipple. When I did she held her breath and made that sound I so longed to hear. I let me fingers work their way over to her left breast and repeated the same motion.

I looked back to Bella and she was laying there with her eyes open, watching me. I lay down beside her and kissed her gently as my fingers slowly moved down her stomach, tracing the outline of her waist, her hips and her pelvis. My fingers continued to journey down to the outside of her thigh, slowly moving their way in, stopping just shy of true bliss. I questioned her with my eyes as to going further. She nodded her head slowly and opened her legs, inviting me in. I slowly slide my fingers into the folds of her. She closed her eyes and her head rolled towards me so I had a perfect view of her face. I watched her intently as she reacted to the movement of my fingers and as I slide one of them down further and then inside her, she gasped, sucking her bottom lip in trying to silence her moans.

I let the tiny squeaks that escaped her mouth be my guide with how fast or how slowly I let me fingers roam. I could hear her breathing accelerate and could feel the muscles of her body contracting around my fingers and I increased the speed at which I let my thumb and fingers move against her and inside of her.

As she reached her peak, her face went flush with that color I love so much on her cheeks. I took her mouth in mine wanting to feel her release both around my fingers and tongue. She grabbed the hair on the back of my head and pulled as if her life depended on it. It was the most pleasurable pain I had ever experienced in my life.

"Edward." She whispered my name as her whole body shuddered than went stiff, her back arching up in the air.

As she tried to gain control of her breathing, I could feel her body relax all around me, the waves of pleasure drifting off her and feeling the room.

She opened her eyes and looked at me. I could her searching for words. "Oh my god Edward…that was…never before…never in my life have I ever felt that." She panted still trying to catch her breath.

She leaned over to her side so we were facing each other and took my lips into her. As we kissed I felt her hands move down my body sending waves of pleasure throughout me. I could feel her tugging on the button to my jeans and as much as I wanted her to continue I had to stop her.

"Bella sweetie, not tonight."

She pulled back from our kiss and a look of such pain crossed her face.

"Bella sweetie, more than anything in this world I want to be inside of you but just not tonight. Tonight was all about you my love, all about you finding bliss."

"But this would be part of my bliss." She said as she moved her hands back to my jeans. It took all of my will to stop her again.

"Sweetie I don't have any condoms."

"Oh." She said beginning to understand. "I guess I should have thought about that a little further before I did the whole naked seduction thing."

"Beautiful, I loved the whole naked seduction thing."

"But what about you Edward? What can I do to make it better for you?" She said as she glanced down at the bulge in my jeans.

"You letting me see you, all of you is the most I could have asked for, but then you let me explore your body and bring you pleasure and that is so beyond my best dreams. Watching you, feeling you as you came, Bella that is all I need for now." I meant every word I said.

"But Edward…"

"No love, not another word." I said kissing her gently on the lips.

"Thank you Edward."

"Anytime!"

We lay there just watching each other and as her eyelids began to get heavier I suggested she get dressed just in case Charlie did decide to check up on us. At least we would be dressed if he caught us in bed together.

The next day we explored Cannon Beach. We went to Haystack Rock and marveled at the natural beauty of a rock towering 235 feet in the air in the middle of a beach. Bella must have taken a hundred pictures of the tide pools around the rock alone.

After spending a few hours on the beach, we headed into town and explored the little shops and artist dens. I could tell Bella's senses were in overdrive as she touched everything she could. We came across a quaint little kitchen store and I thought Bella was going to explode. She reminded me so much of Alice at that moment.

On the way back to the house Bella insisted we stop at a drug store and get some _necessary supplies_ as she so coyly put it and I was more than happy to accommodate her request.

We made it back to the house and had just stepped out of the car as Alice and Emmett pulled up. Peter and Charlotte had arrived while we were out exploring the area. Alice jumped out of the car and damn near tackled Bella as she threw her arms around her. Although she tried to contain it, I could tell Bella was just as excited to see Alice.

"She almost knocked Jasper onto the luggage belt." Emmett said walking up beside me taking in the view of his sisters. I looked over at Jasper who just shrugged his shoulders and grinned. I knew deep down he loved it, he just wouldn't let Emmett know.

Of course Emmett had no room to talk; he bounced over to Bella after Alice let her go and pulled her into a huge hug, spinning her around.

"I missed you too Em!" Bella said trying to get Emmett to set her down.

Alice rushed over to me and threw her arms around me. "I missed you too Edward."

I couldn't help but laugh and take in her energy. "Same here Alice."

"Nice job on the bracelet by the way!" She winked as she walked back over to Bella now that Emmett had released her from his bear hug.

We got everyone settled into their rooms and decided ordering pizzas would be the best thing for dinner that night. After dinner we split up like we had the night before, the men watching a game on TV and the women outside on the deck. Dad found an outdoor fire pit and set it up on the deck so they all gathered around it and talked.

It felt like we were in a movie. One of those feel good moments where you know you are watching pure happiness. While we all knew this paradise was only temporary, that we would have to go back to school and work, we didn't let that knowledge sit on the surface of the joy we were all experiencing now. We deserved this, Bella most of all and we were going to enjoy every moment of it.

We spent the next few days basking in our bliss. During the day we all explored the beautiful area that we currently inhabited. We went to museums, shopping and to the different parks in the area. We ate the most amazing food and laughed at times until our sides hurt.

Each day at sunset, Bella and I would walk down to the beach and watch the sun setting into the water.

The second night everyone was there our parents went out to eat and the six of us "kids" as mom kept referring to us had our own Christmas party. We fixed lots of junky finger foods and _noshed_ as Bella called it and exchanged gifts. We laughed and joked around. It felt like a beer commercial but without the beer.

The nights were the best though. Bella and I had talked about it and we decided to wait to New Year's Eve for our first night together. Better to bring the New Year in with a bang and not a whimper, Bella's words not mine. They were cheesy as hell, but just too damn cute coming from her to care.

In the mean time though we spent our nights exploring each other. Bella wanted to make sure I was taken care of and while she was not sure of herself at first as she touched me, as I had done our first night here, she let my sounds and the way my body reacted to her touch be her guide. It felt as if we were meant to bring pleasure to each other in the ways that we did and each night just seemed to get better as we both grew in our passion for one another. As New Year's Eve drew closer the desire between us increased greatly. We were both very eager for the 31st of December.

When the day arrived it felt like electricity was being conducted between Bella and me whenever we were close to one another.

Dad made reservation for our large group to have a private dining room at one of the local Italian restaurants and we all decided it would be fun to get dressed up.

Bella, Alice and Rose got together and played dress up with one another, leaving Jasper, Emmett and I to figure out what to do with ourselves for a few hours.

We broke out the Wii that was set up in the family room and nearly broke out the walls around us. I knew Emmett was very competitive and expected it. I didn't expect it from Jasper though. He always seemed so calm and reserved. The exact opposite of Alice, but him playing on the Wii, it was like he was channeling Alice as we played Sports Resort. The three of us were all over the room, running, jumping and acting like a bunch of little kids hyped up on sugar.

Mom came into the room several times to fuss at us and each time she turned to go back to her room, we all busted out laughing and went right back to playing out our temporary beer commercial life.

Dad finally came out and reminded us it was getting close to time for dinner and that we should put the game away and go get dressed. I could tell a part of dad wanted to be right there in the mix with the three of us.

We walked down to our rooms and as I walked into the bedroom, I didn't see Bella and figured she must still be with Alice and Rose. I jumped into the shower quickly and had to smile at myself as I grabbed the bottle of Bella's bath wash and drank in the smell of her. It still seemed so surreal to me that tonight was going to be the night and that I had been so blessed as to have Bella chose me to be her first.

I got dressed and opened the bathroom door to see Bella standing by the dresser putting the necklace her parents had given her for Christmas on. She turned around to look at me and the sight of her caught my breath. She was stunning.

She was wearing a slinky black dress that hugged her body so closely that it caused me to envy the fabric that got to hold her like that all night long. The dress had tank like straps that plunged down into a v-neck. It wasn't so deep a plunge as to raise the eyes of our parents, but it was enough to entice the hell out of me.

She wore her hair up and swept up over to one side so that the hair that fell on her shoulder covered the scar on her neck. She was wearing black hose that helped to cover up the scar on her leg. I was glad to see she had enough confidence in herself to wear something that didn't completely cover every part of her body. Other than a long skirt the night she first met my parents, I had not seen Bella in a dress since the attack.

"Absolutely stunning." Was all I could manage to get out.

"You don't look so bad yourself pretty boy!" She cooed as she walked over to me and gave me a kiss.

I couldn't take my eyes off of her all night long. She was so beautiful and tonight she would be mine because she had decided I was going to be the one. I knew I had a stupid grin plastered on my face, but I didn't care. I was in heaven.

After dinner we made our way over to one of the hotels that was having a party in their grand ball room. We spent the rest of the night dancing and just hanging out in our large group, enjoying each other's company.

As it got closer to midnight, dad ordered glasses of champagne for all of us, checking with Charlie and Peter first to make sure they were ok with Bella and Alice drinking a glass even though they were under age. After the drinks were passed out, dad called for our attention so he could make a toast.

"As we finish this year on a decidedly better note than we have had in the past few months I would like to take a moment to tell you how much it means to Esme and I to have all of you celebrating this night with us. We are so lucky to have each of you in our lives, lucky to have each other. A toast." He said as held up his glass and everyone did the same.

"To our sweet Bella, who has filled all of our hearts with pure joy and who had given Esme and me the greatest gift in the world. The smile on Edward's face and the love in his eyes are all that we could have ever wanted for our son and you have given him all of that and more. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you! To Bella!" Dad said as he took a drink from him glass.

"To Bella!" the rest of said as we all turned to Bella, raising our glasses and taking a drink. I could see the tears rolling down her blush filled cheeks. She walked over to dad and mom and gave both of them hugs, thanking them for their thoughts and words.

She made her way over to me just as the countdown reached ten and pulled me into her, staring up at me as we counted down to one.

The ballroom suddenly filled with balloons and confetti but all I could see was Bella. See the love I felt for her and was so lucky to have her return to me.

"Happy New Year's Edward." She said as she kissed me.

"Happy New Year's my Bella Luna." I answered against her lips.

As we drove back to the house, the excitement grew between Bella and I and I felt like I was about to explode. We patiently said our good nights to the others and made our way down to our room. I had barely gotten the door closed, when Bella pushed me up against it, taking my lips in hers, her mouth opened, her tongue feverishly seeking entrance into mine, wanting contact with my own tongue which I gladly gave her.

"God Edward I didn't think we would ever get here." She panted as she pulled away from our kiss. "I want you so badly right now."

"I want you too beautiful." I told her before pulling her back into a kiss. As we made our way over to the bed we started undressing each other and by the time we laid down on the bed neither of us had anything on.

I wanted her so badly, could feel her on my skin, taste her, but as much as I wanted her, I didn't want it to be quick and hurried.

I pulled back from our kiss and looked at her, my eyes drinking in the beauty that was my Bella.

I began to kiss her under her jaw and slowly worked my way down her body. As I reached her breast I let my tongue trace slow circles around her nipple, teasing it before I took it in between my lips and began to suckle it as if I could literally drink life from her.

"Edward" she whispered as she arched her back pushing her further into my mouth. As I let my mouth repeat its motions on her other breast, my fingers traced down her stomach to the part of her body they had longed to touch all day. I slide them into the folds of her, gently stroking her before I let me fingers glide back and forth inside of her, my thumb now taking over where my fingers had just stroked. Her body moved in rhythm to the movement of my tongue and fingers as if I was playing her like an instrument.

"Edward. Please. Oh God. Please." She begged and I could feel her grip on my fingers tighten as she began to reach the precipice of pleasure.

My tongue worked its way back up to her neck while my fingers continued to play. I took her ear into my mouth and began to suckle her lobe.

"Come for me beautiful, I want to feel you." I said into her ear in between suckles.

"Edward, please, I want you so badly." She whimpered. She was trying to hold back for when we were finally as one.

"Soon my love, we have all night. Remember with a bang and not a whimper." I whispered in her ear as I began to play her faster.

"Absolute. Fucking. Bang." She panted as I felt the shudder of her body as she fell over the edge.

As her breathing began to calm, I stared into her face until she opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Are you really ready for this?" I asked.

"More than anything else in the world."

I brought her lips to mine in a gentle kiss, not one full of want but one full of love. I broke away from her body for just a moment to put a condom on and then positioned myself in between her legs. I let my weight fall onto my arms so I wouldn't hurt her. She opened her legs and pushed her hips into me, inviting me in. I slowly pushed my way into her, watching her face the whole time. She gasped and dug her nails into my back.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah" She whispered as she drew her lip into her mouth.

I moved back and forth inside her in a slow, deliberate motion, watching her the whole time. The feeling of Bella around me was better than anything I had ever felt before in my life. We were one, truly one at that moment.

She brought her face up to mine and pulled me into a kiss, her tongue teasing mine as I had done to her nipples not that long ago. She open her legs to me even wider, allowing me in even more and I could feel any discomfort that she may have experienced being over taken with desire.

I increased the speed of my rhythm and when I did Bella held her breath making that noise I so loved to hear.

"Bella, you feel so good. I love you so much." I panted. I could feel warmth pulsating throughout my body and I could tell I was close to the edge.

Our bodies moved in rhythm as we both got closer and closer to the edge. "Edward, you are my everything, in every way now. I love you more than words could ever say. I could spend the rest of my life like this, you and I together as one, the feeling of you inside of me. Come for me love, let me feel you!"

Her words sent waves of warmth throughout my whole body, into my soul and I was hers forever.

My mind was filled with so many words but none of them could come out as I fell over the edge, my whole body quivering. The vibration of my body brought her over the edge with me and I buried my head into her neck, trying to catch my breath as she did the same.

As I lay there, still a part of her I became so overwhelmed with the love I felt for her.

"Thank you Bella." I said pulling my head up and looking into her eyes.

"For what sweetie?"

"For waiting for me, for letting me be the first one to ever share this with you."

She smiled at me and pulled me into a gentle kiss. "It was always you Edward, even before I knew you, there was always the idea of you. You are everything I ever wanted in a guy and more than worth the wait."

I kissed her before stepping into the bathroom for a moment. When I finished, I walked back over to the bed and after I got back in I pulled her into my arms and held her body against mine falling asleep in the bliss of my Bella.

I would never know or question why I had been so blessed to have Isabella Swan love me but I would spend the rest of my life grateful for that blessing.

* * *

A/N: So finally our two love bugs are together as one! Hope you all enjoyed it!

Bella's words to Alice "Head up young person" is from the movie _The Objection of My Affection._

Completely off topic for a moment, highly recommend the movie _Inception_. It is one of the most intelligently made and original movies I have ever seen.

Back on topic, Reviews, comments and questions are always welcomed and much loved!


	22. Chapter 22

**SM owns all things Twilight**

A little more citrus to start us out but then...

**

* * *

****Chapter Twenty-Two**

_Beep! Beep!_

I so hate the sound of an alarm clock going off, especially when I am wrapped in the arms of heaven.

_Beep! Beep!_

I could feel Edward pull away momentarily to shut off the offending appliance that was making that sound. And then he snuggled back into me.

"I hit the snooze button so we have ten more minutes of this." He said as he kissed the top of my head.

"We should have stayed in Cannon Beach." I mumbled not wanting to get out of bed.

"Believe me darling, I would have been more than happy to stay there, but I think the guy who let dad use his house would eventually tire of us squatting there."

"We could have just lived on the beach."

"Tempting as that sounds, there are certain parts of your body I don't want to feel covered in sand and I think eventually that would become a problem for us."

I couldn't help but giggle at his words as I snuggled into him more and began exploring his neck with my lips.

"Hmm! That feels nice." He said as he tilted his head to the side exposing his neck to me even more. I began to run the tip of my tongue ever so slightly on his neck and worked my way up to his ear. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but morning breath prevented that and I was too comfortable to get up and brush my teeth at the moment.

Plus the way his body reacted to my tongue was enough to keep me here for the rest of the day. I gently stuck my tongue in his ear, teasing the outside of it before I took his lobe in my mouth and started to nibble on it. He let out the most pleasant of moans.

It had been a little over a week since Edward and I had begun to explore each other's bodies and we had learned so much in that short time. Like the fact the sounds that he made damn near sent me over the edge. I loved being with him in this way. Everything he did every little touch of his fingers, every gentle caress of his lips, radiated throughout my whole body, from the tip of my head to the bottom of my toes.

Everything I felt, told me I was meant to be with him and him alone and that thought did not faze me in the least. After we made love the first time I knew I would never want another man to touch me in any way as intimately as Edward did. And I knew that waiting for him was one of the smartest things I had ever done and would never ever regret not being with anyone else.

Edward let out another moan and the hand that I had resting on his stomach began to trace circles above the band of his boxers before easing their way under. I could feel his stomach muscles contract as he pulled them inward, reacting to my fingers moving ever closer to him.

"Bella…the…alarm…is…" He tried to say.

"Turn it off love; we don't have to eat breakfast." I whispered into his ear, my mouth still nibbling on his ear lobe. I let my fingers ghost over him and could feel that he was as hard as a rock. His whole body stiffened at the tease of my touch and his hips pushed up towards my hand. When he did, I grabbed him firmly and started stroking up and down.

"Fuck. Me. Bella!" He groaned as he twisted his upper body around to fumble for the alarm clock, not wanting to move his lower half away from my grip. The sound of him banging the clock trying to find the off switch and the grumble of profanities that came out of his mouth made me giggle, hot breath coming out of my mouth and into his ear. His body went ridged for a moment and then I could hear him grab the cord to the alarm clock and pull it out of the wall.

The next thing I knew he had spun himself back around so that he was now lying on top of me. My hand broke contact with him momentarily and together we managed to pull his boxers down enough so that he could wiggle out of them with his legs.

Before I could take hold of him again his hands were on the sides of my panties, pulling them off of my body. He reached over to the table beside the bed and grabbed a condom and I watched as he quickly ripped the package open with his teeth and had himself covered in no time. He lowered himself back over me and as he centered his body above mine, I opened my legs for him and my hips began pushing up into him, seeking him out. We connected almost immediately and as he pushed himself into me we both let out deep moans.

"God Bella, you are so wet." He said, panting into my neck as he let his tongue work its way down the strap of my tank top, seeking the shelter of my nipple underneath, pushing back the fabric with his chin as he made his way down before taking hold of it and seemly drinking for dear life.

"Just the thought of you makes me hotter than Georgia asphalt." I moaned, completely engrossed in the movement of his mouth on my nipple and the pulsating rhythm of him inside of me. I reached my hands into the back of his head and grabbed a hold of his hair.

His rhythm sped up and I could feel my toes starting to burn, the sensation I had first experienced a week ago with him quickly taking over my body.

"Edward." I managed to get out in between breaths that were now increasing in speed. I could feel his arms wrap around my waist tighter, pulling me closer to him and him deeper inside of me. He let go of his suckle hold on my nipple and moved his way over to the other one and began to repeat his previous motions. The loss of his mouth than the feeling of him reconnecting again and the amazing feel of him gliding in and out of me was all that I need to send me over the edge and I could feel waves of warmth flowing through out my body.

I could feel my muscle contractions taking hold of him inside of me and just a few deep strokes later he arched his back and his whole body stiffened before his rhythm slowed and I could feel the last of his orgasm sweeping over him.

He collapsed onto me, the full weight of his body on mine, but I didn't care. Both of us laid there, trying to gain control of our breathing.

That was the first time since Edward and I had been together that we had, for lack of a better word, fucked. All of the other times had been so sweet and romantic. Even when we were just exploring each other, our touches were gentle and not hurried. But this, this was just carnal. Hot, sticky, sweaty carnal desire and just unbelievable hot!

"Holy shit!" He said as he rolled off of me and over onto his back, lying beside me on the bed. I hated to lose the feel of his body, the feel of him inside of me, but the sudden blanket of cold air drifting down my body was invigorating and helped to clear my head and steady my breathing.

He turned to look at me and we just lay there, watching each other's breathing calm with huge grins on our faces.

He leaned in and kissed my forehead before sitting up and putting his feet on the floor. I could tell he was trying to steady himself before getting up and going to the bathroom.

He looked back at me with a huge grin on his face.

"Bella?"

"Yes my love?"

"The…uh…Georgia asphalt?"

I rolled onto my side and buried my head into the mattress. "It was a line I heard from a movie one time and it just popped into my head at that moment so I went with it." I mumbled. For all of the bravado I had earlier I was now suddenly incredible embarrassed.

I heard a snicker escape his lips as he leaned in and kissed my shoulder. "Well than, may I never be barefoot on Georgia asphalt because damn woman you were hot." I peered up at him for a moment, feeling the blush on my face lighting up the room.

"There's that color I love so much." He said as he leaned in and kissed my cheek. I couldn't help the little girl giggle that rolled out of my lips.

"I'm going to go jump in the shower real quick. Then you have to do the same and then off to class." He said as he stood up in all of his naked glory and walked to the bathroom.

"Don't remind me." I groaned as I buried my head back into the bed but not so much that I couldn't watch him walk into the bathroom.

After our three weeks of bliss together, first here in Seattle at the house Esme and Carlisle were renting and than in Cannon Beach the thoughts of getting back to class and to reality were very disappointing.

It was the start of a new semester, the start of new classes and the start of a new schedule with my security detail. Before dad went back to Forks, he made sure the guys had my class schedule escorts worked out.

The first day of classes would start with Edward escorting me to my sociology class, Emmett meeting me afterwards to take me to my first session with Kate in three weeks. Jasper was going to meet me at Kate's office afterwards and walk me to Chemistry. Edward was going to meet me after that class and then we were going to lunch. After lunch was my last class of the day, a radio production class that I was looking very forward too. Edward was going to walk me to that class and hang out around the lobby of the drama building until the class was over.

I tried to argue with him that it was crazy for him to do that and I could get campus security to bring me back, but he would have no part of that. Not knowing who the creep was he wasn't willing to let some random guy he didn't know escort me anywhere. I tried to tell him that there were female security officers but he said it wasn't worth the risk of not knowing. Besides he said it would give him time to study while he was waiting for me.

Having been in seclusion away from the campus for the past three weeks it was easy to pretend that the creep wasn't still out there. But now that we were back on campus, the feeling that he could be anywhere was front and center again. In part due to my personal security detail and the presence of two unmarked police cars. To most people on campus they were just cars, but to those of us who knew, they were a reminder that he was still out there and no one had a clue as to who he was.

Dad had been in touch with Sam and Jake the whole time we were away. I know the e-mails to Edward continued to come, but choose not find out the content. I was too happy, too much in the bliss of my cocoon and didn't want to risk it crumbling.

Edward opened the door to the bathroom and walked into the room with nothing on but his towel wrapped around him.

"Hey gorgeous!" I said a huge smile on my face at the sight of him in just a towel. Yes we had just had mind blowing sex and I had watched him walk nakedly into the bathroom, but sometimes leaving things to the imagination was better than what was on full display in front of you.

"Are you talking to yourself Bella?" He answered me with a grin that was a cheesy as his words.

"Cheese much Cullen" I said with a groan. "That is almost the worst pick up line I have ever heard."

"What's the worst?" He asked looking at me with curiosity. I thought about it for a moment and then rolled my eyes.

"Well I'm not sure if it was a pick up line or not, but it was pretty bad. A few weeks after we got here, Alice and I had gone shopping at University Village. I went to the William Sonoma there and as I was looking around this guy walked up to me and handed me a business card. Looking at it he was a tattoo artist and he said and I kid you not 'if you ever want to get poked, tattooed or otherwise, give me a call.' He raised his eyes suggestively at me when he said _or otherwise_, smiled and then walked away from me. The worst part was that he walked over to another girl and put his arm around her." I said laughing but then I noticed Edward was very quiet.

I walked over to him and took his face into my hands.

"What's wrong my love?"

"Bella, you don't think that could be him do you?" I could see anger growing on his face at the thought of him being the creep.

"God no, Edward, he was tall and skinny with a very nasally voice. There is no way it was him." I put my arms around him and I could feel him relax a bit.

"It was defiantly a pick up line and a very bad one at that." He said with a small chuckle. But I could still hear the concern in his voice.

I wanted to lean up and kiss him, but I still had not brushed my teeth yet and knew that I needed to quickly. I opted instead for a quick kiss on the cheek. I started to walk towards the bathroom when he pulled me back against his chest and began kissing my neck.

"Naked seduction again darling?" He said rubbing his fingers gently against the side of my bare bottom. I suddenly realized I was standing there only in my tank top and nothing else.

"It wasn't my initial intention, but if it serves its purpose." I said pushing my backside into him. I tried to reach for his towel when his lips let go of my neck and he stood me up straight.

"Isabella Swan, get your very adorable ass into the shower now or we will be late for class!" He gently pushed me towards the bathroom.

"You really do suck sometimes, you know that right?" I asked turning to look at him with my arms crossed against my chest like a little kid. I was standing in the bathroom stomping my foot.

He walked over to me with such an intense look on his face. I could feel my whole body tingle from the look in his eyes. He stood in front of me, very close but not touching me yet. He leaned down so that he was face to face with me. I let my arms fall to my sides, waiting for him to touch me.

"I know and you love it when I do." He gave me that grin that just about brings me to my knees, kissed my cheek, turned around and then closed the door, leaving me standing in the bathroom speechless.

That damn grin accompanied us the entire way to our first class. I wanted so badly to be mad at him for his little stunt in the bathroom, but he was just so adorable I couldn't stay mad at him.

"I love you my Bella Luna." He said as he kissed me in front of the door to my first class.

"I love you too Edward. Even when you tease me, I still love you." I answered him. He flashed that grin again and turned to walk to his class.

Sociology class turned out to be pretty interesting and I could tell I was going to like the professor a lot. Emmett was in a very playful mood when he met me after class and he had me laughing the whole way to my session with Kate.

The session with Kate went really well. She was pleased to see that I was doing so well and that I hadn't had a nightmare in almost two weeks. She pressed me about my relationship with Edward and when I finally told her about us becoming intimate she didn't even flinch. I knew she would remain professional about anything I told her, but it still felt weird talking to an adult about my new sex life.

We finished up and walked out of her office and just like the good Southern Gentleman he was, Jasper was standing at the door waiting for me. He was talking to Angela who was waiting with him. She was in my Chemistry class and was going to walk with us.

His face lit up when he saw the smile on mine and I could tell he was happy to see that I was coming out of the session smiling. Knowing poor Jasper had been witness to too many of my downward spirals and the way they always affected Alice it was good to see him relax.

Angela and I said goodbye to Jasper as we reached our classroom and I turned to walk in, Angela right behind me when suddenly there was a tight grip on my wrist pulling me into the room. I was spun around to see a guy I didn't know staring at me with such anger on his face that I instantly wanted to cry.

"Where the fuck have you been Bella?" _Holy shit it was him_. I would know that voice anywhere. I stood there frozen, trying to figure out if this was a dream or if this was real. His grip was getting tighter on my wrist and I could feel tears starting to form in my eyes. Even through my tears I refused to take my eyes off of his face. I took in every crease every line knowing I would not forget anything about him.

"Jasper!" I could hear Angela's scared voice calling for Jasper to come back.

"Did you really think you could leave me for three weeks and me not worry about you? Where were you Bella? Were you with him, were you with Edward? Were you fucking him when you were supposed to be with me?" I couldn't speak, all I could do was stand there looking at him. My head was pounding in sink to the throbbing in my wrist and as his grip tightened I could feel the bones cracking.

"Jared?" I heard Jasper call his name as he rushed into the room. _Oh my God, Jasper knew who he was._

"Stay out of this Jasper." The creep yelled at him.

"Stay out of what? Let her go Jared. Bella are you…" I managed to pull my eyes away from the creep and looked at Jasper. He must have been able to read my eyes and he knew.

"You're the son of a bitch who attacked her!" Jasper said his voice in a rage. He lunged for the creep trying to get him off of me, knocking him to the ground and taking me with them. All of the rage that the creep had a moment before when he was gripping my arm seemed to intensify more and he must have used that rage to flip Jasper over on his back. He pulled Jasper up by his shirt and punched him square in the nose, sending him falling to the floor. The creep jumped up on his feet and looked like he was about to kick Jasper.

All of the pain, fear and anger that I had been feeling for the past few months snapped me out of my shock and I moved over to Jasper trying to stop him from being hurt any more.

"Stop it!" I screamed at him as I crawled over to Jasper, taking his head into my lap. Blood was pouring out of his nose and his eyes were already starting to blacken.

The creep stopped in his tracks and stared at me for a moment in shock, than all of the rage that had been there a moment ago came back.

"Are you fucking Jasper now too?" He screamed getting down in my face. I covered Jasper's head with my body as best I could while bracing myself for some kind of blow from him. "Does Edward know about this you stupid whore? Is there anyone you are not fucking Bella?"

"I am not fucking you Jared!" I yelled at him saying his name for the first time and with so much rage it scared even me. I had had enough. I couldn't take it anymore and I snapped. Everything I had been feeling since the attack came out of me. "I don't even know who the hell you are you sick delusional fuck!"

My words made him freeze and all of the anger left his face and was replaced with heart breaking hurt. Normally that look on someone's face would bring tears to my eyes, but there were no tears to be found at that moment.

"Bella?" He said with so much pain in his voice. He stood there for just a second before he turned and ran out of the room.

"Angela, call 911!" She stood there in shock, tears streaming down her face. "Angela sweetie, please call 911." I said to her raising my voice. She snapped out of her trance and pulled her phone out.

"Bella." Jasper whispered my name.

"Jasper don't try to talk." I said as I looked around the room trying to figure out what I could use to try and control the bleeding. For the first time I realized there were other people standing in there watching, all of them with fear on their faces. "Could someone get me a towel or something please?" Nobody seemed to move. "Please somebody give me something. I need to try and stop the bleeding."  
I begged.

"Here" A small voice called to me handing me a t-shirt. The small girl's hand was trembling and she was crying.

"Thank you." I smiled at her as I took the shirt. I used it to put pressure on Jasper's wound trying to stop the bleeding. Both of us were now covered in his blood.

My mind started running like crazy. I had seen his face, finally seen the son of a bitch's face. Not only had I seen his face, but I knew his name. His name was Jared and somehow Jasper knew who he was.

"Bella, I'm sorry." Jasper said, his voice filled with pain and very distorted.

"Jasper what on earth could you have to be sorry for." I asked looking down at his blood stained face. "If anything I should apologize to you."

"Bella you have nothing to be sorry about. You didn't do anything."

"Jasper your nose is broken because you tried to defend me."

"Yeah and I knocked you down on the ground in the process of it."

I paused for a moment; knowing this blame game was getting us nowhere, knowing squarely who the blame should fall on.

"Jasper neither of us have anything to be sorry for. It was all him, this was all…Jared." The sound of his name escaping my lips made me sick. "How do you know him Jasper?"

"He is a Sig Ep brother."

"So Edward and Emmett know him too?" Jasper started to shake his head yes but I could tell it hurt him to do so.

Panic started to set in as the thought of Jared knowing Edward personally, of him going after him now and Edward having no clue that he was the one. After seeing what he did to Jasper the thought of what he might try and do to Edward scared the hell out of me.

"I have to let Edward know Jasper, what if he goes after him next?" I reached for my bag to pull out my phone, suddenly remembering that when I fell my bag was knocked off of me and had flown across the room. I started to ask Angela to hand me my bag when the police came into the room.

Jake and Sam rushed in shortly after the first officers arrived and I could see the pain on their faces, the sight of Jasper and I both covered in blood.

"I think his nose is broken." I said hoping to ease their concern.

"Bella are you ok?" Jake asked.

"I think so." I answered.

"You're wrist Bella." Angela said. I had forgotten about the pain in my wrist as I looked down at it and saw huge deep black and blue bruises and his fingerprints.

Sam and Jake both looked down at my arm and I could see anger filling both of their faces.

"Did he do that to you?" Sam asked.

"Yes and Sam he knows Edward, is one of his fraternity brothers."

I could see concern take over Sam and Jake's faces. They stood there for just a second before they both pulled out their phones and began making calls.

"What is his name?" Sam asked.

"Jared Smith." Jasper answered.

"Our un-subs name is Jared Smith; he is a student here at the school." Sam repeated the information into his phone.

"Edward isn't answering his phone." Jake said "Where is he supposed to be right now?"

"He is upstairs in…"

"My girlfriend is in there, I need in there now!" Edward's raised voice interrupted me and calmed my nerves immediately.

"Jenks, it's ok, let him in." Jake said, his face mirroring the way I'm sure mine looked now that we knew Edward was ok.

Edward rushed past the officer standing in the doorway but stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of me holding Jasper's head in my lap, blood over both of us.

"Bella." He whispered.

"Edward, it's ok. It isn't as bad as it looks. Well not for me anyway. He broke Jasper's nose."

"Who broke his nose?" I could see the look of concern quickly being overtaken by anger. Edward was still standing where he had stopped only moments before.

"It's Jared, Edward." Jasper answered him. "It's him; he's the one who has been stalking Bella."

The paramedics arrived right as Jasper was answering Edward and they rushed over to us asking how we were hurt. After assessing the blood was only coming from Jasper they began tending to his nose trying to stop the bleeding and to see how bad it was. They wanted to get Jasper to the hospital to do x-rays.

Edward was still standing in the same spot, a look of rage sweeping across his whole body. I could see his fists balled up and he looked like he was ready to punch something. I got up and tried to go over to him, when I heard Jasper call my name.

"Bella, your wrist."

"What is wrong with her…" Edward's gaze was broken at Jaspers words and he rushed over to me, concern taking over the rage, but he stopped short of taking me in his arms when he saw my arm. "Bella did he do that to you?" I could see the rage boiling back up again as he took in the shape of his fingers on my wrists.

I didn't want to answer him at first, didn't want to see his rage growing any further.

"Yes." I whispered.

Edward's face went instantly red and he looked like he was going to explode when Jake stepped in front of him, blocking my view of him for a moment. He whispered something in Edward's ear. Edward's face looked up at Jake's for a moment and then he shook his head, the look of anger slowly disappearing.

He walked over to me and pulled me into his arms. Just the feel of his body next to mine, his arms around me, made things instantly better and I think it did for him because I could feel the tension in his body suddenly ease.

"Ma'am, we need to take a look at your arm." One of the EMT's said.

I held my arm out and as the EMT took it carefully a wave of pain shot up my arm and I gasped.

"It may just be a fracture, but with bruising that deep that quickly, I think it may be broken. We need to get you to the ER as well." I could feel Edward's body tense up immediately, his grip on my waist tighten.

"We will take her; you guys go ahead and take Jasper. Edward you will ride with Bella and us." Jake said, putting his hand on Edward's shoulder. He eased his grip and pulled me into him.

"Thank you Jake." He said before he kissed the top of my head. I had to figure out what it was that Jake said to Edward.

The ride to the hospital was relatively quiet despite the blare of the siren. Sam was on the phone with the station the whole time as Jake drove. Edward just held me in his arms, his head resting on mine.

When we arrived at the ER entrance, Dr. Turner was waiting there for us.

"Bella. Oh Bella, sweetie." He said with pain in his voice. He was standing there with a wheel chair waiting to take me to x-ray, already have been apprised of the situation from the EMT's who arrived with Jasper before us.

"I'm ok Dr. Turner. " I said to him trying to make him feel better. I'm sure the sight of blood on my clothes wasn't helping matters any.

He wheeled me into the ER and stopped at the admittance desk talking to one of the nurses before turning to Edward.

"Edward, I know you don't want to hear this, but you will need to wait over there for her while she is in x-ray. As soon as she is back up here, I will bring you back to the room so you can be with her." Dr. Turner pointed over to the ER waiting room. I could tell he didn't want to have to tell Edward he had to do it this way, but he knew he had to do it this way.

"I know Dr. Turner. Thank you for letting me go back there with her once she is done."

"Of course Edward." Dr. Turner said before he turned his attention back to the desk. Edward kneeled down so we were face to face.

"I'm going to call Emmett and Alice and than our moms. I'll be right here waiting until they let me come back. Dr. Turner will take good care of you, but you already know that." He chuckled trying to make both of us feel better, but I knew it was forced.

He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. "I love you Bella." He said as he pulled away, stopping for a moment and giving me a small smile.

"I love you too Edward." He squeezed my hand and then stood up, letting Dr. Turner wheel me away.

"Dr. Turner, how is Jasper?"

"I'm not sure Bella, he is still in x-ray. Dr. Bennett was tending to him, but I'll go check on him and let you know." He smiled down at me and patted my shoulder. We made our way down to x-ray and Dr. Turner went to go and check on Jasper. An x-ray technician came over and started asking me questions and telling me what they were going to do. He left to go and set everything up and I sat there alone. My mind began to race trying to figure out just one thing.

_Who the hell was Jared Smith? _

* * *

A/N: So there you have it, the creep has been revealed, at least his name anyway. For gracey.v and K-cullen13 and any others who suspected it was Jared you were correct. More will be revealed about him in the next chapter.

Bella's Georgia Asphalt line to Edward was from the movie _Wild at Heart_.

Reviews, comments and questions are always welcomed and much loved!


	23. Chapter 23

**SM owns all things Twilight but apart from the names and places, this one is all mine.**

**The late great e.e. cummings owns the two poems in this chapter. (Sorry about the grammarbut it is copied as is from him. He loved words more than proper grammar and that made him great.)**

**Thank you for all of the love! It means the world to me. Some lemons ahead! Who knew poetry could be so darn sexy!**

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* * *

****Chapter Twenty-Three**

I knew something was wrong as soon as I heard the sirens, could feel it in every ounce of my being. I jumped up from the lab and started gathering my stuff. I knew it was stupid to do this on my first day, but I didn't care.

I could tell Dr. Wagner was pissed when he cut me off from walking out the door, but when he saw the look on my face he knew I had to leave and so he let me pass without another word. I rushed down the stairs and saw a crowd of people gathered outside of the door to the class I knew Bella had. My heart sank. My fears were confirmed, even though I could at that moment confirm nothing more than a number of people were gathered outside of a classroom, I just knew.

Thankfully Sam and Jake were there to help me get into the room. My gratitude lasted only a second when I saw Bella and Jasper on the floor covered in blood. In that split second before she spoke, seeing her that way, I felt like my world was crumbling down around me. As bad as I felt for Jasper I was relieved to learn it was his blood and not Bella's. I know it makes me a shit, but at that I moment I didn't care.

Than the rollercoaster of emotions I was on began to ascend to the top in findingout Jared, someone I knew was the crazy son of a bitch terrorizing my angel. All along it was someone I knew, someone who had been around Bella and me on more than one occasion, but always on the outskirts now that I thought about it. The rollercoaster plummeted 100 feet when I saw his fingerprints in bruises on her wrist. All of the rage that had been buildingup over the past few months was now about to explode. I couldn't see, couldn't feel anything but pure hatred for someone I had once called a friend.

Jake seeing my rage, jumped in and calmed me down before I did something that would scare Bella or send her into oblivion. She needed me to be there for her now, not to run off and kill someone. So I pulled it together and took her in my arms. Her loving embrace calming me further.

I was pacing the ER waiting room when Emmett and Alice came rushing. Poor Alice looked like death. Not only did this involve Bella, but Jasper too. I don't think I had ever seen someone look as sad as she did at that moment.

"Edward, where are they?" Emmett asked as he walked over to me, his arm wrapped tightly around Alice.

"They are still down in x-ray from what I can tell. Dr. Turner is supposed to come and get me once they are finished with Bella." I was still pacing, waiting to go back and see my love.

"What happened?" Emmett asked.

"We are still piecing it all together." Sam answered before I could. He had just come in from outside. He had been out there talking to someone from his department. "All we can tell right now is that he was waiting for Bella in her classroom. He grabbed her and started yelling at her and evidently the hold he had on her arm was strong enough to possibly break it." I could see the same rage I had earlier boiling up in Emmett.

"Angela called for Jasper who had just left the girls and when he came back in and saw what was going on he went after him. In the process of Jasper trying to help Bella somehow or another, Jared broke his nose. That must have set Bella off, because she yelled at him and he took off running. That's really all we know for now, until we can get more information from Bella and Jasper." Sam's phone rang and he walked away to answer his call.

I stopped my pacing when I saw tears falling down Alice's face and I walked over to her and pulled her into a hug trying to calm her down. I knew this was pure torture for her.

"I know sweet pixie, but they are both going to be ok." I said trying to calm her.

"Edward when is this all going to be over? She shouldn't have to go through this anymore. And now Jasper." She sobbed into my chest.

"Edward, Sam said Jared?" Emmett asked with a look of confusion and pain.

"Jared Smith. The sick fucker is one of our frat brothers."

The rage I had expected to see in Emmett was nowhere to be found. Instead all of the color drained from his face and he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Emmett?" I tried to get his attention, but it was like talking to a ghost, no response at all. I started to say something else to him when Dr. Turner walked up to us.

"Edward, they just brought her back up from x-ray and I'm sorry to say it's definitely broken. They are getting ready to set her wrist in a cast if you want to go back there."

"What about Jasper?" Alice mumbled her face still buried in my chest.

"Well as they suspected his nose is broken. Fortunately it was a clean break so it should heal nicely and there shouldn't be any long term effects. He doesn't have a concussion either which is good. Unfortunately he has two pretty deep black eyes and some swelling. They are setting his nose back in place now and they should release him in a little bit."

I could feel Alice relax a little, but her tears still feel.

"Emmett." He was still lost in his own world and not responded.

"EMMETT! " I all but screamed at him trying to get his attention. He snapped out of his fog and looked at me with broken eyes. "I'm going back to see Bella, you need to take Alice." He nodded his head slightly and pulled Alice into his arms. I could tell he was working on auto pilot but had no clue what was going through his mind. I had expected him to lose it, especially after seeing what he had done to the chair, but he looked like a shell of himself. I had to find out what was going on in his head, but I knew it would have to wait; I needed to get back there to Bella.

I followed Dr. Turner back to the exam room Bella was waiting in. It looked like they had just begun to wrap her wrist in a cast. They had given her a scrub top to replace the bloody one she had on previously. I could tell by the lookon her face that she was exhausted. I was thankful to see she hadn't blacked out or gotten lost in the shock of everything.

Her face brightened when I came in the room. I walked over and took her free hand in mine, my other wrapping around her shoulders.

"How are you holding up love?"

"Better now." She answered as she squeezed my hand.

"Were they finished with Jasper yet?"

"Dr. Turner said they were finishing up with him. He may be out there now."

"How is Alice?" she asked with so much concern on her face.

"She'll be ok; Emmett is out there with her. Mom and Renee are probably out there by now too. They were on their way and I'm sure Charlie is on his way back here now."

We sat there quietly while the resident finished putting the cast on her arm, but my mind was far from quite. I started to think back to all of the times I had seen Jared when Bella was around. He was at the party the night Alice told everyone Bella had a crush on me. I remember seeing him at the tailgate the day of the parent's day game. And he was there the day I was waiting for Bella outside of her classroom to take her to the aquarium. Things that seemed random and made sense at the time, but now make me wonder how many other times he was there that I didn't pay attention to.

The thing I couldn't figure out though was the stuff from Forks. Jared was from Portland so how did he end up in Forks, following Bella before she came here?

As the resident finished up with her arm, Dr. Turner came back in. "Well Bella, it looks like Marcus here did a good job with your cast. You'll need to come back in four weeks so we can do more x-rays and see how things are healing. I want you to keep your arm in this sling as much as you can for the next two days, which should also help to lessen the pain some. After that you should be okto go without the sling. I'll go finish your paperwork and when I get back you will be able to head out ok."

"Thank you Dr. Turner, for everything." She said.

"Any time my dear." He answered her as he put his hand on her shoulder and then walked out of the room.

"Edward."

"Yes sweetheart."

"What did Jake say to you back there to calm you down?" _Damn she did see how pissed I was._

"He said that knowing how much he wanted to hurt Jared at that moment he knew my anger was even greater, but that right than you needed me. That you didn't need to be worried about me or anyone else at that moment and that I needed to get my shit together for you."

"That was kind of mean." She said looking down at her hand.

I brought her face back up to look at me and I leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss before I continued.

"It wasn't mean, it was direct, but it was what I needed. That moment wasn't about me or my rage, it was about you and Jake knew that, knew how worried you would be. I hate that I did that, hate that I allowed myself to lose control like that in front of you."

"But Edward…"

"Bella, stop." I said interrupting her. "Let me be the better of the two of us for this moment and let it all be about you."

She looked at me with shock on her face so I pouted out my lower lip and gave her droopy puppy dog eyes.

"Please."I said in a child's tone.

She just shook her head at me before a small chuckle escaped her lips. She than put her hand on my cheek and I leaned my head into it and sighed.

"I love you Edward."

"I love you too Bella Luna."

After Dr. Turner released Bella we walked out into the waiting room where the rest of our family was. Poor Jasper's nose was covered in bandages and in his eyes were black and blue. Bella gasped when saw Jasper and I pulled her tighter into me.

Alice was sitting beside him holding his hand with her head resting on his shoulder. Renee and Mom were talking to Sam. Angela was talking to Jake and I was glad to see Ben was there for her. Rose was trying to get Emmett to talk to her but he looked like he was still in his own little world.

When they saw us coming through the door, Renee stopped mid sentence and rushed over to Bella, hugging her very carefully. Mom was right there behind her waiting to do the same.

Sam and Jake needed to get Bella's statement but figured it would be better if we went back to the house. Both Bella and Jasper looked like they wanted to be some place more comfortable and away from a bunch of people.

Bella and I rode with Mom and Renee while Jasper, Alice and Rose rode with Emmett. Angela and Ben followed in his car. Sam and Jake said they would meet us there. We expected Charlie in at any time. Mom said Dad was flying in the next morning.

Once we got back to the house we all gathered in the living room. I noticed that Emmett stayed away from the group and had that same look on his face. I was dying to ask him what was bothering him because I had never seen Emmett withdraw into himself like he was doing. I could tell Rose was starting to worry about him too.

Bella gave Sam and Jake her statement and it was the first time I heard everything that happened. I had to fight back rage as Bella told us about what Jared did and even worse what he said, for him to call her a whore and accuse her of cheating on him. To think that he was so delusional he thought the two of them were actually in a relationship scared the hell out of me. If he had gotten to the point of being as bold as to attack her in front of others what would he do next?

I was proud to hear what she said to him. Her strength never ceases to amaze me. Once again she was more concerned about those around her instead of herself and she wanted to defend Jasper.

After she finished her story, Jake and Sam both excused themselves from the room to make phone calls. The room was silent for a moment when Jasper spoke up.

"Edward man you should be proud of Bella, she was fierce. She even scared me a little." He tried to smile but then grimaced quickly from the pain.

"I am proud of her."I answered him and then kissed the top of her head.

Bella got up from the couch and walked over to Jasper and gently kissed him on the bandages on his nose.

"Not as fierce as you were Jasper. Thank you for coming to my rescue."

"Same to you Bella." He tried to smile again and managed to hold back the grimace I could tell was trying to escape.

Bella started to walk back over to me when she noticed Rose in the corner with Emmett trying to get him to talk. He hadn't said a word really since he found out that it was Jared who had been after Bella.

She walked over to him and kneeled down in front of him. "Em bear, what's wrong?"

He wouldn't look at her nor would he answer her. He was sitting in a chair with his hands in his lap looking at the wall. Bella pulled his arms away from his lap and crawled into it like a child would their parents.

"Emmett, talk to me." He finally looked up at her for a moment and then hung his head down low before letting out a sigh.

"It's all my fault."

"What's your fault?" Bella asked. She put her hand under Emmett's chin and pulled his head up so he would look her in the eyes.

"Jared, it's all my fault. I introduced him to you."

"What?" Several people asked at once.

Emmett let out another deep sigh and began to talk. "Do you remember last March when mom and dad brought you guys up here for a weekend so you could see the school? You and Alice went to a Sig Ep party with me that night and I introduced to Jared."

"Em you introduced us to a lot of people that night."

Sam walked back into the room at that moment. "What night, what are you talking about?"

"It seems Bella met Jared back in March of last year at a Sig Ep party." I answered.

"Did you talk to him?" Sam asked.

"I don't think so; if I did it must not have been a long conversation because I don't remember it."

"I hate to ask this Bella, but were you drinking?" Sam asked. I could tell it bothered him to have to ask that question. But it still pissed me off.

"Bella doesn't drink!" Emmett snapped at Sam. It was the first real trace of emotion in his voice in awhile.

"It's ok Emmett."Bella said trying to calm him down. "Sam is just doing his job. No Sam, I wasn't drinking."

"Sorry. I didn't think you were, but I had to ask." He smiled at Bella and started to ask another question when Alice's head popped up and she looked at Bella.

"Oh my God Bella, I remember this guy now. Every time I saw him he was looking at you. Now that I think about it, it was kind of creepy the way he was staring at you."

"Why didn't you say something that night?" Emmett barked at her, directing all of his emotion to Alice now. Bella nudged him with her elbow, telling him to be nice.

"Because I didn't think much of it at the time. I have seen lots of guys watching Bella." Alice snapped back at him.

Emmett lowered his head again. "I'm sorry sis. It's not your fault, it's mine."

"Emmett McCarty you listen to me right now." Bella raised her voice causingeveryone to give her their full attention. "This is not your fault. This is Jared's fault and his alone. If it wasn't me, it could have very well been another poor girl, another girl who might not have been so lucky to get away from him. Or one blessed enough to have a familywho loves her and would do anything for her. It is his fault and no one else's! I don't want to hear another word from you about this being your fault young man! Do you hear me?"

_Damn my girl was fierce!_ The pride I felt for her was so big I thought it would overtake the room at that moment.

"Yes ma'am." Emmett replied before pulling Bella into a hug. She let out a small whimper and Emmett quickly let her go. "Bella, I'm so sorry!" He said looking like he had broken her.

"It's ok Em, really." She smiled at him and he seemed to relax a little. "Emmett, don't forget you were the one who introduced me to Edward. I will be forever grateful to you for that." She said as she leaned in and kissed Emmett's forehead.

"Me too." I said as I walked over to Emmett and nudged him in the arm. The goofy Emmett grin exploded at that point and he leaned back in his chair.

Bella climbed off his lap and went over to Alice giving her a hug and telling her she loved her.

Charlie walked into the room and immediately went over to Bella and carefully pulled her into a hug. He looked over at Jasper and mouthed Thank you. Jasper nodded his head and gave as small a smile as he could without causing too much pain.

"Charlie, good you're here." Jake said as he walked back into the room. "We have a unit at Jared Smith's dorm room now and they said there are pictures of Bella all over the room. He didn't have a roommate and so I'm guessing no one ever went in there to see what he was doing. We have his computer and they are analyzing it right now to see if we can figure out where he might have gone. We have contacted the Portland PD and they are going to his parent's house to see if they can get any information about him there. We have a BOLO out on him that reaches out five states and into Canada. We have traces on his cell phone and his debit and credit cards. If he uses any one of them we will know about it."

"In the mean time, we are going to have detail on both Bella and Edward at all times. We are very concerned that he went after Bella in front of so many people. He has obliviously devolved even further and now there is no telling what his next step will be." Jake walked over to Bella and Charlie and put his hand on Bella's shoulder.

"Bella we are going to do everything we can to make sure he doesn't hurt you ever again."

"I know you will Jake. Thank you!" Bella said as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. I could tell that small gesture meant so much to Jake. I could see both he and Sam had been struggling with him getting so close to her, almost like they felt they had let her down.

Mom and Renee insisted everyone stay at the house that night. They said it was to make sure Bella and Jasper were both okand that someone was there should they need anything, but I knew it was because they were worried about Jared being out there and no one knowing where he was.

We stayed at the house that night but moved back to the dorms the next day. We made it through the next few days with as much normalcy as you could with a constant detail on top of you. It was like having our own secret service. There was always a car parked outside of the dorm and the house. When we walked to class or other spots on campus there were officers who paced behind us a few feet. I knew Bella hated the attention, but could tell deep down it helped to make her feel safe.

Dad and Charlie both decided to stay until more information could be determined about Jared's whereabouts and every night we would go over to the house for dinner with our parents.

Emmett was staying at the dorm now too instead of sleeping at Rose's. Even though he did a good job of hiding it around Bella, I could tell that he still blamed himself which was crazy. Like Bella said, this was no one's fault but Jared's and his alone. I worried at first that Rose would get mad at Emmett for staying at the dorm and spending so much time with Bella, but she seemed to have gotten over her insecurities about Bella and didn't seem to mind the loss of Emmett at night.

Bella was able to take her arm out of the sling a few days after the second attack and seemed to be managing things pretty well with the cast. It was her left arm and being right handed she was still able to write and was pretty good at typing with both hands even with the cast on. Jasper was starting to look somewhat normal again. The black eyes were going away and the swelling was gone. We told him that he now looked like a cowboy and that seemed to make him happy. Alice was doing better as well having gotten some of her spark back. It was still nothing compared to Alice at full wattage, but she was getting there.

The Thursday after the attack Bella, Emmett, Rose and I were sitting in the dorm room doing homework after returning from dinner at the house. Bella was reading something for her English class and I noticed that she had the most beautiful blush on her face. I wasn't the only one who noticed it either.

"Bella Luna, look at that blush! What are you reading, porn?" Emmett asked. He had plopped down on the couch beside her and took the book she was reading out of her lap.

"It's a poem Emmett, not porn." She said smacking the hand that had taken the book away from her.

Emmett sat there quietly for a moment, reading the poem and then he looked up at Bella with total confusion.

"It's about test driving a car, how did that make you blush. And what is with that guy's grammar?"

"It's e.e. cummingsand that just how he wrote. The poem is not about a car, it's about a woman's first time having sex." _Well damn now I was even more intrigued by her blush._

"Bullshit!" Emmett said with a smirk.

"Read it again Em." Bella answered him.

Emmett began to read the poem again and I could literally see the light bulb go off above his head. He began to fidget in his seat and he was starting to blush a little. Yes our big brawny bear of a guy was blushing.

When he finished he sat there for a moment and then looked over at Rose.

"Come on darling. We are going back to your place." Emmett said as he gathered her books up and shoved them into her book bag.

"Emmett!" She started to protest.

"You will thank me and Bella for this later." He said as he helped her up out of her chair and pulled her towards the door. He mumbled bye as Rose looked at Bella and me and said she was sorry.

Bella looked over at me with the most amazing smile on her face.

"Bella what are you reading?" My imagination was running wild and I was beginning to get turned on.

"she being Brand. Would you like me to read it?" She asked with the most seductive voice I have ever heard coming out of my beautiful Bella.

I shook my head yes and she began to read

_she being Brand_

_-new;and you_

_know consequently a_

_little stiff i was_

_careful of her and (having_

_thoroughly oiled the universal_

_joint tested my gas felt of _

_her radiator made sure her springs were O._

_K.) i went right to it flooded-the-carburetor cranked her_

_up,slipped the_

_clutch (and then somehow got into reverse she_

_kicked what_

_the hell) next_

_minute i was back in neutral tried and_

Bella's words slowed down as she said each one, her voice was so raspy and unbelievable sexy.

_again slo-wly; bare,ly nudg. ing (my_

_lev-er Right_

_oh and her gears being in_

_A 1 shape passed _

_from low through_

_second-in-to-high like_

_greasedlightning) just as we turned the corner of Divinity_

_avenue i touched the accelerator and give_

_her the juice,good_

_(it_

_was the first ride and believe i we was_

_happy to see how nice she acted right up to_

_the last minute coming back down by the Public_

_Gardens i slammed on_

_the _

_internalexpanding_

_externalcontracting_

_brakes Bothatonce and_

_brought allofher tremB_

_-ling_

_to a:dead_

_stand-_

_;Still)_

Bella's voice was dripping with lust as she read the last few lines, slowly with so much passion and fire.

"Fuck me Bella." I whispered as I walked over to the couch and picked her up, bringing her back to the bed. I looked into her eyes the whole time, thanking my lucky stars that she was mine. I laid her down on the bed, very careful of her arm and lay beside her.

She smiled at me, her eyes half closed and then she licked her lips. That was all I needed. I leaned into her face and claimed her lips as my own. She moaned as my tongue worked its way into her mouth, seeking out her own tongue to dance with. It was a frenzied embrace, full of passion and want.

She pulled at the back of my hair with her good hand and I pulled her into me closer, wanting to feel every part of her. My fingers began to explore her body, moving up the side of her waist, under her shirt to her lovely breasts. They began to softly massage her breast before working up to her nipple.

"Edward I have missed your touch so much." She whispered into my mouth.

"My touch has missed you my love." I answered her back as my fingers left her breasts and worked their way slowly down her waist to the top of her jeans. I unbuttoned them and my fingers found their way down to the very essence of her body.

She was wet and warm and inviting. I slide my fingers down into her folds. The tips of my fingers ghosted past her pleasure point and she moaned into my mouth. The sudden rush of sweet, warm air on my tongue fueled it to explore her mouth even deeper and my fingers mirrored my tongue as the plunged inside of her. Her hips pushed into my hands and begged for me to play her harder.

I could smell the desire coming off of Bella and I wanted to taste it as well. I broke away from our kiss and pulled back, looking at my beautiful angel laying beside me. She was looking up at me with so much love and desire as I continued to play her with my fingers. My craving to taste her increased as she licked her lips again and whispered my name.

She whimpered when I pulled my fingers out of her but when I put them in mouth and tasted her she held her breath, making that noise I so loved to hear. I moved down between her legs and began to remove her jeans and panties in one slow movement. As I discarded her clothes to the floor I sat there between her legs and admired the absolute beauty that was my Bella.

"May I?" I asked as I looked up at her.

"Please." She answered her voice full of desire and need.

I slowly kissed my way up the calf of her leg to her thigh and then to her center. I slowly took her in my mouth, sipping her in as if she was the finest of Brandies in the world. My tongue began to explore the inside of her, sliding in and out of her and drinking her into my soul.

"Edward." She gasped and I could feel her reaching the edge about to fall over. I gently rubbed my thumb against her while I continued to drink her in with my tongue and mouth and she fell, fell into pleasure, fell into me and I was in heaven.

I kissed my way back up her body and could feel her calm with each touch, her breathing slowly coming back to a normal rhythm.

"Damn, Edward. That was…that was…"

"Georgia Asphalt?" I asked wiggling my eye brows up at her.

She giggled and leaned into my neck giving me sweet kisses as she worked her way up to my lips. Her touch was gentle and so full of love.

Drinking Bella in was pure lust and desire, but now I wanted to be sweet, loving and gentle. I unbuttoned her shirt and careful pulled it off of her, doing the same with her bra. I could never get over the marvel of Bella naked. She was truly beautiful, perfect in every line, every curve and every angle.

I discarded my own clothes and lay down beside Bella, showeringher with gentle kisses. We spent the rest of the night like that, slowly, sweetly exploring each other'sbodies with our fingers, our mouths, our everything. Making love to Bella was the greatest gift and reward in the world. When we were together like this, there was no Jared; there was no pain and no hurt. There was only us, one body, one heart, one mind and one soul.

We enveloped each other in gentle bliss until the wee small hours of the morning before we drifted off into the sweetest of slumber.

The sound of the alarm clock the next morning barreled us back into reality, but I had to admit there were worse ways to wake up in the morning, than waking to see the beautiful naked form of my dear Bella sleeping beside me.

She stirred from the sound of the clock and looked up at me with so much love and adoration.

"Morning beautiful." She said.

"Hey that's my line." I answered her back.

"It's not just yours. You're beautiful Edward, and before you say anything yes men can be beautiful and you my love are truly beautiful in every way and every ounce of your being!"

"Just when I think there isn't an ounce of my heart left for you to take, you say something like that and it swells to a bigger size, making more for you to take. I am now and forever yours Bella. I love you with every ounce of my being."

"I love you too Edward."

We laid there in each other's arms until the snooze button went off and we knew it was time to get up and get going. Luckily it was Friday and we would be able to spend the next two days in each other's arms if we wanted too. Ok not really because our parents expected us to go over to the house, but at least we had that option if we wanted it.

As I was waiting for her to finish her radio production class I thought back to the night before and the poem that she read. I began to wonder if there were any other poems by cummings that were just as delicious as that one was. I pulled out my computer and began to search for his poems. I love buildings that have WiFi.

As I was searching through his poems, one caught my attention and I sat there and memorized it while I was waiting for Bella.

"Bella, do you know any other poems by e.e. cummings?" I asked her as we were walking back to the dorm after she got out of class.

"No that one last night was the first one I have really come across of his so far. But I like him and think I am going to explore him some more." She answered.

"So you don't know I carry your heart with me?"

"No I don't know that one." I was really hoping that would be her answer.

I stopped our walking and I turned her to me so we were eye to eye. I looked back to see the officers following us on foot stopped, both of them trying to look elsewhere when they realized we were about to have a private moment, even in the middle of all of the people around us.

I pulled her face into my hands and began

_i carry your heart with me(i carry it in  
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere  
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done  
by only me is your doing,my darling)  
i fear  
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want  
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)  
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant  
and whatever a sun will always sing is you_

_here is the deepest secret nobody knows_  
_(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud_  
_and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows_  
_higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)_  
_and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart_

_i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)_

When I finished I leaned in and kissed her lips gently and with so much love. I could feel her tears on my cheeks and in my hands.

She pulled back from our kiss and looked up at me with a smile that could light up all of Washington State.

"Edward that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Everything you just said, there have never been more perfect words to express how I feel about you. Thank you for loving me like that. Thank you for those beautiful, beautiful words."

She leaned back into me and kissed me gently, before nuzzling her head into my chest and pulling me closer to her. I kissed the top of her head before I laid mine gently down on hers, sighing in the bliss that was washing over me, not caring who was watching us or what they may have been thinking.

I opened my eyes knowing we needed to head back to the dorms and then I saw him, saw Jared coming straight towards us, saw the gun he was pointing at us. I turned Bella and I to shield her from him and pulled her further into me.

"I love you Bella."

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A/N: Reviews, comments, questions and suggestion are always welcomed and greatly loved!


	24. Chapter 24

**SM owns all things Twilight, but the rest is all mine!**

Thank you all for the love and support that has been given to this story and to Bella and Edward.

Forgive the cliff hanger from the last chapter but it had to be done.

And now without further adieu...

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

"I love you Bella."

"I love you…" I was interrupted by screams and the feeling of bodies rushing past us. Then I heard his voice.

"She's mine Edward. Mine!" Jared yelled.

"Sir put the gun down now!" Officer Caius said. From the sound of his voice he was now standing in front of Edward and me.

"Edward." I gasped as he pulled me into him tighter. I couldn't see anything as Edward was shielding me from Jared.

"It's ok my love, he won't touch you." He whispered into my ear.

"Edward, give her to me. Give her to me or so help me I will kill you." Jared yelled.

"It will be a cold day in hell before I ever give her over to you. You can shoot me you sorry bastard, hell you could even kill me, but even with my last breath I will make sure you never ever hurt her again!" Edward calmly said to him as he looked back over his shoulder.

"Edward don't." I said trying to turn him to keep him from being hurt. He was like stone, he would not be moved.

"Sir, I'm not telling you again, put your weapon down." Officer Caius said trying to control the situation.

"Not without her, not without my Bella. Bella baby I love you, you know that, please, please come back to me. I forgive you for everything." He said, his voice quivering as if he were going to cry.

"You forgive me?" I screamed, my anger allowing me to push myself from Edward enough so that I was facing Jared now. Him telling me he loved me, telling me he forgave me was just too much. I couldn't stand for him think this about me anymore. He had to know, had to face up to what he had done.

Officer's Caius and Aro were standing in front of Edward and me, their guns pointing at Jared. Edward had his arms and body still covering the majority of mine trying to move me back.

"You love me?" The more I looked at him, the madder I got. "Do you call this love?" I yelled as I held up my casted arm. "Or what about this?" I yelled as I pulled down the collar of my shirt to show him the scar on my neck. "Those are not symbols of love. Those are symbols of abuse. You tried to rape me; you beat me, stabbed me and broke my wrist. That is not love Jared that is sick and twisted."

He stood there looking at me for a moment staring at me like I had hit him with a stun gun. In an instant he went from stunned to angry again, like someone had flipped a switch on him.

"Do you think Edward loves you?" He screamed back at me.

"No Jared, I don't think he loves me, I know he loves me. Edward has been there for me since that horrible night you attacked me. He has saved my life, taken care of me, been there to hold my hand and despite all of your shit he loves me, unconditionally. He put himself between you and me just now to protect me from you once again. He protects me and keeps me safe where all you do is hurt me. He loves me Jared, with everything that he is and I love him. _This _is love. What Edward and I have _this_ is love."

His expression changed quickly again and I could tell he was trying to process everything that I said to him. I thought maybe I could talk him down; surely somewhere in there was a normal mind.

"Jared you don't know me." I softened my voice now and spoke to him a normal tone. "You need help. Jared please, please put your gun down. Please don't hurt anyone else, including yourself. Jared, please, please let us help you."

He stood there just looking at me and for a moment I could see clarity in his eyes. He lowered his gun to his side and dropped his head down as if he was ashamed of himself. Officer Caius cautiously walked over to him to take his gun away. Officer Aro still has his gun pointed at Jared.

Suddenly Jared's head popped back up and all signs of clarity were going. He quickly drew his weapon back up.

"How is this for a show of love Bella?" He asked with a strange smile on his face.

I heard shots fired and before I realized it Edward and I were on the ground.

"You got him?" Officer Aro yelled.

"Yeah I got him." Officer Caius answered him back.

"You two ok?" Aro called down to Edward and I. Edward was lying on top of me, his arms holding me tight to him, his body shielding mine completely. But neither one of us moved. I couldn't feel my body.

"Edward, Bella are either of you hit? Are you ok?" Aro asked again with urgency in his voice.

Edward pulled back looking me over and then looking at my face for an answer. I nodded my head yes although I wasn't completely sure. Hell I don't think I was sure of my name at that point.

"We're ok." Edward answered him back.

We sat up and both of us looked around, our eyes falling on the scene in front of us. Officer Caius was leaning over Jared who was down on the ground, his hand on Jared's neck. He looked over at Aroand shook his head no. It was at that moment I noticed blood on the sidewalk beside Jared, blood on his shirt.

"He's gone Edward." Officer Aro said to us as he held out his hand to help us up from the ground.

_He's gone_.

His words ran around in my head as Edward helped me up off the ground. Everything up until this point happened so quickly none of it registered with me and now, now it seemed like everything was going in slow motion and all it could do was register.

_He's gone_.

Edward put his arms around me and turned my body again but this time to shield me from the sight of Jared laying there on the ground, his blood slowly spreading on the sidewalk.

"It's ok sweetie, you're safe now. It's over." Edward said as he tried to calm me down. He kissed the top of my head and was rubbing his hands up and down my arms. I suddenly realized that I was shaking.

"It's over." I whispered his words.

"Bella, sweetie are you sure you are ok?" Edward put his hand under my chin, pulling my face up to his.

I looked up at his face, finally focusing in on his eyes. They were so full of concern, hope and love. Edward protected me, just like he always did. He never wavered in his convection. When he told Jared he would protect me until his dying breath I knew he meant it, could feel it in his arms around me, his words above me and the way his eyes were looking into my soul now.

"I love you too Edward." I answered him from earlier, answered his actions and answered the look in eyes now.

He leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips and pulled me into him, his loving arms still protecting me as we stood there on the sidewalk, chaos all around us. But I was safe from all of that, in his arms, just as I always had been and just as I always knew I would be.

I heard a car pull up behind us, the sounds of doors slamming and Sam and Jakes voices.

"Bella, Edward are you two ok?" They both asked at the same time running over to us.

"We're ok." Edward answered.

"Thank God." They both said at the same time.

Jake pulled Edward and I both into a hug and we couldn't help but chuckle at his actions.

"What?" He asked as he let us go. He walked over to the side of us, pulled out his phone and started to dial.

Sam patted both of us on the arm before walking over to Officers Caius and Aro. A few minutes later, Jake hung up his call and walked over to Sam and the other two.

He spoke with them for a few minutes and then he came back over to us.

"Come on you two; let's get out of here. I'll take you over to your parents house Edward. Both of your parents are dying to see you. They know you are ok, but they want you there just as much as I'm sure you want to be out of here."

"Thank you Jake." Edward answered and we made our way over to his car.

Edward and I sat in the backseat of the car, holding hands, my head on his shoulder, his head on mine. Neither of us spoke. I don't know that either of us really knew what to say. My mind was racing all over the place. The scene kept playing out in my head as best as I could remember. It was really over. Jared was really dead. He was lying back there on the sidewalk in a pool of blood.

I will never understand how it came to this, how someone's mind could get them to that point. I began to wonder what had happened in his life to make him this way, to make him so delusional. I kept thinking about that switch him, when he went from seeming to know he was wrong to actually pulling his gun back up like he did, thinking he could get away with shooting it at anyone. And what did he mean by _show of love_?

"Jake?" I lifted my head off of Edward's shoulder and looked up at Jake.

"Yeah Bella?" He answered.

"Did Jared fire his gun?" We pulled up to a red light and he looked back at me.

"It doesn't appear he did." He answered with an odd look on his face. "Bella, we are trained to handle those types of situations before they get out of hand. When Aro saw the gun go back up he reacted the way he should have."

"I understand that Jake. I'm just trying to figure out what Jared meant when he said _"How is this for a_ _show of love_?" Why would he draw his gun up if he wasn't going to shoot?"

He paused for a moment looking down before he brought his gaze back up to me.

"It's something we call suicide by cop. He drew his gun up like that more than likely knowing he would be shot and given the circumstances the shot would more than likely be fatal."

The car behind us blew their horn as the light had turned green. Jake shot them a look and turned back around to move the car forward.

"So he did it to show me that he would die for me?" I asked but I already knew the answer. Edward let go of my hand and put his arm around me, pulling me into him.

"In his sick mind that is what he was doing. He was in a situation where there was no chance for him to get out of or get what he wanted so he took the cowardly way out."

"Oh."

I turned my head toward the window trying to fight back tears. Tears that I did not want to shed, tears for someone who didn't deserve the salt.

We pulled up to the house and found our parents waiting out on the front porch for us. Evidently they had been informed by the gate guard that we were there.

Mom and Dad rushed over to the car and opened the door on my side. Dad pulled me into a death grip of a hug as I was getting out of the car.

"Oh Isabella, thank God." I could tell he was fighting back tears. Mom came up beside us and worked her way into the hug. We stood there for a few minutes, the three of us in a tight embrace. I could feel the relief coming off of both of my parents. Relief that this nightmare was over and now they knew their little girl was safe.

I could hear Esme and Carlisle talking to Edward and it sounded as if they were sharing the same embrace with him.

Mom and Dad let go of me and we walked around to the other side of the car where Edward and his parents were. As if choreographed, our parent's switched kids off and Esme and Carlisle pulled me into an embrace, mom and dad doing the same to Edward. I was a little surprised but very pleased to see my dad show so much love for Edward.

Just then, Emmett's jeep pulled into the driveway and he, Rose, Alice and Jasper piled out. Alice was the first to run over to me, nearly knocking me down as she hugged me.

"Bella, thank God. Are you ok?"

"I'm good Alice, everything is ok now." I could see the light that had been missing the majority of the past three months creeping back into her eyes.

"Move over squirt, I'm next." Emmett boomed as he moved Alice out of the way and pulled me into one of his bear hugs. I could see Alice making a bee line for Edward out of the corner of my eye.

"Bella Luna, I'm so glad this is over now. I love you little one, I never ever want to see you go through any kind of pain again." He whispered in my ear.

"I love you too Em." I answered him before I kissed his cheek. He finally put me down and made his way over to Edward. I could see the concern in Edward's eyes that Emmett was going to grab him like he did me and sure enough he did. I couldn't help but laugh to myself.

Rose followed Emmett with a hug and Jasper after her. Before I let Jasper go, I leaned up and kissed the tip of his nose. His black eyes were duller today and he had taken the bandage off. He smiled and winked at me before he walked over to Edward.

Dad came back over to me and put his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head.

"Are you ok Bells?"

"I will be daddy." I answered him, looking up at his face and giving him a small smile. He pulled me into another hug and I could tell he didn't want to let me go.

After all the hugs were over with, we walked inside the house, Edward coming over to me and taking my hand as we sat down on the couch. Mom came and sat on the other side of me, Esme on the other side of Edward. Dad and Carlisle stood behind us. Everyone else settled into a seat, but no one spoke. Not really sure how you start a conversation after what just happened. Somehow "_So what's for dinner?"_ just didn't seem appropriate.

"Trust me I know this isn't pleasant Agent Jackson, but you still have to go and inform his father." Jake's voice broke the silence. He had been outside on his phone and I could tell from the look on his face he hadn't intended for any of us to hear that. "Take it up with my Captain if you want, but the man does have a right to know." Jake closed his phone and looked over at dad. I looked back to see dad shaking his head as if he understood what Jake had been talking about.

"Was that about Jared's father?" I asked looking back at Jake.

He closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke. "It was. One of the agents we have been working with in the Portland PD doesn't want to be the one to go and inform his father of… his passing. He was expecting us to tell him."

"Where is his mother?" I asked.

Jake hesitated before he brought a chair from the dining room over and sat down in front of me.

"She passed away a little over a year ago." He said, pausing for a moment before he continued. "When Portland PD went to his house Monday his father said he had not talked to Jared in a couple of months and that they had grown apart since his mother's death. He was very concerned about his son, but had let his grief consume him."

"Did they say what kind of person his father was?" I asked.

Jake looked at me with confusion on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean was he a drunk, a holy roller, a nice guy? What was he like?"

"They said he seemed like a normal guy."

"What about his mother? Did they have any indication as to what kind of person she was?"

Jake looked at me for a moment trying to figure out where I was going with the questions. "Bella are you trying to figure out if his parents were mean to him or if they did something horrible to him as a kid? Do you think that is why he did this?"

"I don't know, maybe." I whispered as I looked down at my lap. Edward squeezed my hand trying to get me to look at him.

"Bella look at me please." Jake took my free hand in his and he leaned in to me. I finally looked up to meet his face. "Our BAU team has been over every aspect of his life trying to figure out what could have triggered this. While they think his mother's passing was probably the stressor, it was always there. Bella he was sick, unfortunately it happens, even to those raised in the best of environments which it appears he was. I learned a long time ago to stop looking for reasons as to why people do the things that they do, some people just have bad in them for whatever reason and Jared was one of those people."

I nodded my head at him letting him know I understood. He patted my hand before letting it go and he and dad left the room to talk more.

I may have understood Jake's words but it didn't make me feel any better. It was taking all of my strength to not cry for his father, to not cry for him.

Jake left shortly after he and Dad spoke saying that he and Sam would be in touch with us the next day. Dad and Carlisle went to go pick up dinner and the rest of us sat around the living room talking. The conversation was forced as everyone tried to talk about anything other than what had happened. The longer I sat there trying to fight back tears, the number I felt.

Edward kept looking at me. I could tell he was trying to figure out if I really was ok. I smiled at him, but I knew he didn't buy it. I could tell he wanted to ask me what I was thinking but he didn't want to do it in front of everyone.

After dinner, Kate showed up at the house and one look at Jasper told me he had called her to come over. I knew I couldn't be mad at him, that he was just looking out for my best interest but I really didn't want to talk about any of this, not right now.

Kate asked if she could speak with me alone and I reluctantly followed her to the bedroom I had been sleeping in at the house.

"How are you holding up?" Kate asked me as she sat on the bed next to me.

"I'm good." I answered hoping I was able to pull it off.

"Seriously?" She responded, _ok so not pulling it off,_ I thought to myself.

"Bella sweetie, you need to tell me the truth."

"Truthfully Kate I'm numb." I snipped at her.

"Well that is to be expected. I would be shocked if you weren't. I guess a good question would be why are you numb?"

"Because I don't want to cry."

"Bella, crying right now does not make you weak." She said as she put her hand on my leg in a comforting gesture.

"That's not it Kate." I snipped again as I got up from the bed and started pacing the floor.

"Than what is it?" The amount of patience in her voice never seemed to amaze me.

"It's nothing Kate, just drop it."

"Bullshit Bella." She snipped at me this time, all patience in her voice gone. Her tone and colorful use of words startled me for a moment.

I sighed and then slunk down to the floor. "Because I don't want to cry for him. Don't want to have any sympathy for him. Don't want to cry for that crazy son of a bitch who caused me so much pain and then did something so stupid as to get himself killed in an attempt to show me he loved me. What the hell was that Kate? Who the hell does something like that? And what about his poor father? I mean the man just lost his wife a little over a year ago and now this. How does a person get over that? Should I grieve for him? For the loss that he is now suffering?" I asked my voice quivering as I fought back tears.

Kate got up off the bed and came down and sat next to me on the floor.

"Bella we may never why Jared did the things he did and trying to figure it will only make things worse for you. And as for your tears it is perfectly acceptable for you to grieve for his father. You're right it is a tragedy that he has lost two members of his family in a short time span. And as for Jared, sweetie you saw the boy shot and killed today. Granted it was basically at his own hand, but sweetie, no matter what he did to you it was still the loss of a life, a loss that will be mourned by his father and the rest of his family."

I wanted to shut her out, didn't want to listen to what she had to say. I felt like I was drowning in the tears I was trying to hold back.

"Bella you are such a loving giving person. It doesn't surprise me in the least that this would affect you like that. Feeling the need to cry for his father or even for him is who you are Bella; it's what makes you so special. And my dear Bella, based on the love I see in Edward's eyes, in the eyes of every person out there in that room, that is one of the things they love most about you. Hell darling I love you and I'm supposed to keep my emotions out of this." She said trying to lighten the mood.

I looked up at her and gave her a small smile, and then all of the emotions I had been trying to hold back pushed their way through and I let go, let myself cry.

Kate pulled my head into her lap and let me cry so many tears. Tears of relief that this nightmare was finally over, tears of joy for the love of my family, tears of happiness for the love of a great man who was willing to give his life for mine, tears of grief for a father who had lost his son and for the pain that he would carry with him for the rest of his own life. And finally I cried for the death of Jared, for the soul that was lost at some point in his life and for the person he could have been had he not lost that soul.

I laid there and cried until there were no more tears left for me to give. I sat up and smiled at Kate, before pulling her into a hug.

"Thank you Kate, thank you for helping me remain the person I am and not changing into someone I don't want to be."

"Happy to help out my dear. I'm here for you, no matter what. Just because this part of it is over, I'm still here, still plan on seeing you twice a week or more if you need it. I'm not going anywhere. I'm like the glue that gets stuck on your finger, not matter how hard you try to get rid of it, there is always a remnant of it there."

"Did you just refer to yourself as glue remnant?" I asked.

"That's right, Kate's support glue! That's me." She said with a huge smile on her face. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips and I finally allowed the rest of it to leave my body. I doubled over on the floor, new tears of laughter coming out of my eyes. Kate joined me and we stayed that way for a good ten minutes before we calmed down.

"Damn that felt good!" I said.

Kate stood up and held out her hand for me to take. "Well Bella they do say laughter is the best medicine."

We walked out of the room and as we entered the living room I could see the look of concern on my family's faces. My eyes had to be red and swollen from the tears.

"I'm ok." I told them with a real smile on my face. "But I am very tired. I'm going to go take a shower and then I think I'm going to bed."

I hugged my family goodnight as dad and Jasper walked Kate to the door.

"Would you like me to join you?" Edward asked in a whisper.

"Yes I would." I answered him, holding my hand out. I could see the first real smile grace his face for the first time in several hours.

I gave my last hugs to dad and Jasper when they came back in from seeing Kate off and told everyone I would see them in the morning.

As I took a shower, Edward waited for me quietly on the bed.

The warm water felt so good against my exhausted body. I could it feel washing away all of the crap of this day and of the past few months. I knew it was still going to be there, that I still had things to deal with, but for now, I could let the warmth of the water caress me and make everything alright.

After I got ready for bed, I came out of the bathroom, walked over to the bed and crawled into Edward's waiting arms. We lay down beside each other and he kissed my forehead.

"Feeling better now?"

"A little yeah."

"Are you going to be ok my love?" He asked with so much concern in his voice.

"I will be my amazingly beautiful Edward. But right now I don't want to talk about it. I just want to lay here with you."

"Gladly my love, gladly. But know that I'm here when you need me darling all you have to do is ask." We snuggled into each other and lay there quietly for a moment.

"Thank you Edward."

"For what my love?"

"For protecting me, for loving me so much you would give your life for mine."

"No need to thank me for that my sweet girl, I would rather end my own life than to think of going on without yours. You mean the world to me Bella, you are my world. I would give anything to take away the pain you have been through these past few months." He said as he gently took my casted hand and kissed my finger tips. "But I will never ever regret being there for you will never ever regret falling in love with you and will never ever regret a choice of your life over mine."

He pulled my face to his and gently took my lips to his. I could feel so much love in his kiss, so much care and joy to have me to love and to be loved by me in return.

"I love you my sweet girl, to the moon and back again and twice around the sun and I carry your heart with me on that journey." I couldn't help the giggle that escaped at his sweet words. I nuzzled into his arms and closed my eyes.

"Edward."

"Yes my love."

"Please tell me the poem again."

Edward began to recite the beautiful poem to me again as I fell into sleep, knowing that Edward would always be there to protect me, to watch over me and best of all to love me.

The glorious light of the sun coming through the blinds woke me the next morning. I opened my eyes to the beauty of Edward Cullen watching me sleep, the loveliest of smiles on his face. It was a new day and I knew in that moment that everything was going to be ok.

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A/N: I know it may seem crazy to some for Bella to cry for Jared, but that is who she is, what makes her so special, that she cares enough about others to even cry for that crazy mind. If she didn't allow herself to grieve she wouldn't be Bella and that was one of the things she didn't want to have happen.

So this tale of our love birds is coming to an end. There will be one more chapter after this and than an epilogue. Thank you again for all of the love I have been given for this story. It has inspired me to write more and the ideas are just waiting to bust out!

Let me know what you think!


	25. Chapter 25

**SM owns all things Twilight **

**Meatloaf owns _Paradise by the Dashboard Light_**

**Nine Inch Nails owns _Closer_**

This chapter is full of fun, fluff, love and lemons. Also a glimpse of girls night fun that we haven't seen before now.

Thank you to all of those who have invested their time and interest in this story.

I feel nothing but love!

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**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Things slowly but surely went back to normal, well as normal as could be expected. The first week after the shooting was the worst. Edward and I stayed at the house the whole time. There was press everywhere around school, speculation about what really happened going in every direction possible. I avoided all sources of media as best I could. I didn't even look at the paper; of course it wasn't like I really read it before hand. I always figured any news I needed I could get from the same source on the Internet, which I also avoided. I didn't watch the news either. I knew avoiding these things would not make it all go away, but I wasn't ready to deal with it yet, wasn't ready to read or hear about rumor and speculation.

Mom, Dad, Carlisleand Esme all stayed that week withus and it was good to have them there. They along withEdward all hovered around me a little more than I would normally like, but I never said anything because I knew they were just worried about me. Kate came over to the house everyday that week to talk withme and withEdward too. She insisted he talk with her because he was so much a part of all of this. I know he only did it for me but I was glad that he did because he had carried too much of this on his shoulders.

The school seemed to go out of its way that first week to make sure Edward and I had everything that we needed as far as classes and really anything else that we might need. We both knew it had to do with their fear of bad press or of our parents trying to sue them. I'm sure some of our professors weren't happy about our special treatment but they really had no choice in the matter. Of course we both made sure we kept up with our work so that when we went back, any animosity that might exist could be squelched quickly.

That first week I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Cooking and or baking had always been such a stress reliever for me and this was like having my own personal spa. I learned quickly how to maneuver with my cast and found that a Zip-Locbag does a great job of protecting a cast from many things. Edward and I began cooking our way through the bookI had gotten him for Christmas. There were difficulties at first, seeing as how being in the kitchen withhim was such a turn on and our parents were always in the other room. We both had to learn a great deal of self control.

When Jared's father came to claim his body and take him back to Portland, he asked Sam to ask me if I would be willing to meet with him. He felt the need to apologize to me face to face for his son's actions. I thought a great deal about it, but in the end I knew I just couldn't do it, not now and maybe never. Instead I asked Sam to pass along a note from me. It was short and simple. I told him how sorry I was for his lose and that he was in my prayers. It was a small gesture I knew but I hoped it would be enough to help him ease any guilt that he may carry so he could properly grieve the loss of his son.

Internal Affairs investigated the shooting and determined that Officer Arohad been following protocol with regards to shooting Jared. I could tell from the lookon his face that day it was not something he wanted to do, but he knew he had a job to do even if that meant taking another person's life. I was glad that he was able to go back to work and would be forever grateful to both him and Officer Caiusfor rushing to protect Edward and me the way they both did.

Dad, Mom and Carlisleall went back home after that first week. Esme stayed for a few days beyond them but only to settle things withthe house they had rented and then she was gone too. Before she left she made me promise I would come spend some of the week of Spring Break with her and Carlisle in Chicago and I was all too happy to agree. I was going to miss her and Carlisleterribly; they had both become such a huge part of my life over the past few months. I would miss mom and dad too, but they were much closer and could be seen in just a matter of a few hours.

The second week after the shooting rolled into the third week after the shooting and then into the normalcy of life. Edward and I were able to go back to being college kids. We went to class, studied together, went out on dates and made love like horny jack rabbit, college kids did. I even went on the pill, because that's what liberated college women did right?

I went back to sleeping in my own bed in my own dorm room with only the occasional nightmare during the week and staying with Edward during the weekend.

Alice went back to her mega watt personality which I had forgotten how much I loved. Jasper's face was a little more ruggedly handsome than before and made him look all the more like a cowboy which Alice found she greatly loved. Emmett went back to his playful, jovial self who now took to telling both Edward and I he loved us. And Rose was more beautiful than ever with the look of worry replaced with a look of love for all of us that she never would have allowed herself to show before.

Sam or Jake checked in on us once a week just to make sure we were ok. I knew even though it would be as more of an extended arm, they both were a part of our family now.

And Edward, well Edward became more and more beautiful every day and every day I fell more and more in love with him. Because every day when I looked into his eyes, I was reminded of how very very lucky I was to have this wonderful, soulful, beautiful man love me.

As for me, I thanked God every morning I woke up, for my life. Literally for my life as it could have easily been taken away from me on more than one occasion and in so many different ways. But also for the family that I was now so blessed to have, a family that each member of it had in one way or another done something or sacrificed something to keep me safe because they loved me.

They say that which does not kill you makes you stronger and they were right. Each of us in our own way was now stronger than we had been before all of this happened. Hell we were practically boulders now. But not only were we stronger, our bonds were stronger. We were our own type of family and I knew that we always would be.

And so life went on. January became February and Valentine's Day quickly approached. I never really put a lot of thought into the day before this year. Alice and I always did cutesy things for each other and of course my parents always gave me a little something, but romantically the day never held any interest for me, because frankly no guy had ever held that interest for me. This year though I was actually excited for the day.

Edward and I had cooked our way through his present and I had gotten him several more cookbooks for us to use. More than once we had to repeat a recipe because the first attempt ended up in the trashcan when _extra circular_ activities ruined the meal. There was just something about being in the kitchen with Edward that made my body tingle. I found cooking with him to be very intimate, not just physically but also mentally. It was something that we shared with each other. We worked together, we talked to each other, we laughed, we listened to music and we danced together. The kitchen became our own oasis.

In the end, food nourished not only our bodies but our hearts, our minds and our souls.

A few days before Valentine's Day, I was in Edward's room working on a project for radio production when Rose's voice coming from the doorway broke my concentration.

"Hey Bella."

"Hey Rose, what's up?"

"Emmett's in Jasper's room giving him and Alice a hard time so I thought I would come and see what you two were up to. Where's Edward?"

"He had to go deal with a problem between a RA and another kid up on the 15th floor."

"Ah the joys of a head RA." She said with a smirk as she rolled her eyes. "Would it bother you if I came in for a minute?"

"Not at all my dear. Come on in and have a seat." I responded as I patted the spot on the couch next to me inviting her into the room.

A lovely smile graced her face and she came and sat down beside me. I watched her as she walked over to the spot on the couch and couldn't get over how beautiful she really was. Emmett was a very lucky guy and I'm sure he knew it. Of course I couldn't help but think she was very lucky to have Emmett as well. He was my _big brother_ after all!

"What are you working on?"

"It's a sound poem for radio production. A girl in my class named Tiffany and I are taking the poem _Kidnapped_by Shel Silverstein and adding sound and music to it."

I heard Rose gasp when I told her the title of the poem and she looked at me with shock on her face.

"Bella are you sure about that?" She asked me quietly.

"That was the same look I got from Tiffany when I suggested it and you can only imagine the look I got from Edward. It's kind of a funny little poem, especially to be a kid's poem. It's all serious and ominous and then when it ends it's just a kid's excuse for being late to school."

"Doesn't it bother you though? I mean given the subject matter even if it is just a kid's fantasy?"

"Not really. I think I'm having too much fun with it to let it bother me. We recorded it earlier and I have been working on the edit. Here listen to it and tell me what you think."

I brought the clip up and Rose listened intently. I could tell she was trying not to giggle by the end of the poem.

"Who did the kid's voice in the beginning, he sounded like Mickey Mouse." She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her now.

"I know right. That's Daryl, Tiffany's boyfriend and we both gave him a hard time about it. He was trying to sound like a kid, but instead sounded like Mickey himself. He threatened to go on strike which of course made us laugh even more. I had to edit out a good ten minutes of our laughter." I said joining her in amusement.

"The music that you use in the back ground, that's from _Donnie Darko_ isn't it?" Rose asked. I was the one looking up at her now with shock. _Donnie Darko_ was one of my favorite movies but also one that most people didn't get and wouldn't really know the music from unless they were a fan.

"It is, you a fan of _Donnie Darko_?"

"It's one of my favorites." She answered.

"Mine too. I can't believe you like that movie. Most people I know don't care for it."

"Emmett hates it." She said with a devious grin on her face.

"I know, he kept yelling '_It's a friggin bunny. Who the hell is afraid of a friggin bunny?_' at the TV the first time I made him watch it with me. Neither he nor Alice will watch it with me now."

"He's moved to calling it a fucking bunny and I make him watch it withme at least once a month." She winked at me. We both erupted into laughter at the thought of Emmett cussing at a TV screen and Rose making him watch it against his will. We sat there for a few minutes laughing, just enjoying a little happiness at our big bear's expense when Rose pulled her laughter in and looked at me. I could tell she wanted to say something but was trying to figure out how to word it.

"Bella, I think it's great that you have the courage to do something like this. I know you said it is just a silly kid's poem, but it's still a touchy subject for someone who has gone through what you have. I know you have always had this quiet strength about you, but I have really seen it flourish these past few months. I doubt I would have the strength to do it. You are one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life." She said with so much pride and love on her face.

I felt like crying. To hear Rose say that to me was incredible. This beautiful woman was paying me a compliment and I could tell that it was heartfelt.

"Yeah well I love how childlike and imaginative the poem is, which of course meant there were tones of things we could do with it, like you heard. It really was a blast to work on and I think in a way it was kind of like therapy. Kind of a way to hold my head up high and say _'Fuck it'_, life goes on and I will not let this bring me down." I said kind of indignantly, not towards Rose but really towards Jared and the situation as a whole.

"You go girl!" Rose said as she held up her hand to high five me.

I groaned as I slapped hands with her. "Oh Rose please tell me you didn't just say that."

"Damn straight little one!" She said giving me a wink at using one of Emmett's nicknames for me and sounding a great deal like him. I couldn't help but laugh with her and once again we both sat there almost in tears.

"Bella can I ask a favor of you?" Rose asked, pulling in her laughter again.

"Sure darling you name it."

"I know you and Edward have been cooking together and it seems like something that you both enjoy."

"Greatly!" I said giving her a sly wink.

"Ew gross, inappropriate sexual images of Em's little sister burning in my eyes right now, must gouge them out to make it go away!" She mocked as she shielded her eyes.

"Why Rose, a true smart ass after my own heart!" I answered her with a slight tap on her leg.

She crinkled her nose up at me and went back to her favor. "Anyway, I was wondering if maybe you could give me some lessons?"

"Lessons?" I looked at her questionably.

"I mean I know how to cook and I'm pretty good at a few things, but I don't have the passion for it like you do. I have seen the way you are in the kitchen with Edward, you teach him, guide him really and it's like watching a partnership or better yet a dance. I thought maybe you could help me learn how to do that, and maybe some of your talent in the kitchen would rub off on me. I think it could be good for Emmett and me to give _it_ a try." She said with a wink that copied mine from earlier.

"Ew gross, inappropriate sexual images of my big brother burning my eyes right now." I mockingly copied her back.

"Spoken like a true smart ass!" She said back to me in a very Southern accent! I couldn't help but laugh at the _Steel Magnolias_ reference there.

"_Donnie Darko and Steel Magnolias? _What a wide range of movies there Miss Hale. We may be cinematic soul mates. Next you'll be telling me you love _The Fountain_."

"Holy shit with a passion. That movie makes me cry every time and it is just so amazingly beautiful! I haven't met anyone else who even likes that movie let alone loves it." She beamed at me with the biggest smile on her face.

"Well that seals it. We must dump Edward and Emmett straight away and run off together."

"Why are you dumping Edward and Emmett and running off together?" Alice asked from the doorway. Rose and I were so involved in our cinema snob vest that neither of us saw her there.

"Love of movies." I answered her.

"Oh God, not _Donnie Darko_ again? Rose I forgot Emmett said you loved that movie." Alice said as she rolled her eyes at the two of us as she came and sat down on the coffee table in front of us. Alice and I agreed on many things but movies were not always one of them.

"Got tired of Em picking on you?" Rose asked with a hint of laughter still in her voice.

"I swear Rose; you must be a saint to put up with his crap."Alice huffed.

"Yeah well love makes you do crazy things sometimes." She answered Alice while patting her on the knee.

"So you really want to learn to cook with him, are you sure about that?" I asked Rose jokingly.

"Hell yeah!" She enthusiastically answered me back.

"Now what are you two talking about?" Alice asked us.

"I asked little one here to teach me how to cook the way she and Edward cook together so I can do the same with Emmett."

"Oh yeah, Bella has told me how sexy she thinks it is and that sometimes it leads to…wait…wait. So not the thought I want of you and Emmett!" Alice said holding her hands up as if to block away the mental image.

"Join the club!" Rose and I said at the same time. We looked at each other and busted out laughing again. Alice joined in and the three of us sat there and laughed for a good fifteen minutes.

"Seriously Bella, would you be willing to teach me?" Rose asked after our laughter faded away.

"Me too?" Alice asked almost bouncing off the table.

"I would love too!" I answered them both.

"Great! The guys have a meeting at the Sig Ep house tomorrow. Why don't the two of you come over to my place after class? We can go to the store and then have it!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Alice almost squealed. Rose and I held our hands over our ears and looked at each other with a knowing grin!

The next day Edward, Jasper, Alice and I rode over to Rose's apartment. Emmett was already there and the guys were going to ride together to the Sig Ep house for their meeting.

I asked the girls to think about things that they could fix that the guys would like and that would take some work, meaning cutting up of ingredients, prepping items to be cooked and the longer the cook time the better just in case. The more they could do together as a couple the better the experience would be for them. In the end Rose decided on Pot Roast and Alice decided on Chicken Marsalis. We found recipes online, made out our supply list and headed to the store.

I never thought grocery shopping could be so much fun. Rose flirted with the butcher to get him to give us the freshest cuts of meat. Alice damn near knocked over a display of canned cream corn when she twirled around one of the isles and I, not paying attention to where I was walking ran smack into a stock boy trying to arrange a palate of eggs. Luckily he was able to steady himself before any eggs were sacrificed for my lack of coordination due to tears in my eyes from laughter. We paid for our items and got the heck out of the store before they threw us out and banned us for life. We laughed the whole ride home.

I had gotten my cast off a few days before and I was looking forward to not only being able to use both hands again, but I also really liked the idea of being able to cook with Rose and Alice as well. I liked the idea of teaching them things, of helping them find the joy Edward and I had found with each other in the kitchen.

"Ok ladies, first things first. You must have music when you are in the kitchen." I said as we began to unpack our goods. I went to my bag and grabbed my iPod as well as a speaker to attach it to so it could be heard throughout the kitchen. "Now depending on the mood you are in, you can pick a specific artist or playlist, but I find shuffle works best. You never know what you will get and you don't have to stop to change lists." I put my iPod on shuffle and hit play. The first song up was Meatloaf's _Paradise by the Dashboard Light._

"Ah this one is perfect, a great song to get you in the mood to dance and sing while you cook." I said with a big smile on my face.

"You sing and dance while you cook?" Rose asked me surprised.

"Absolutely. I mean of course I'm careful not to dance around with knifes or hot pans, but if you can't have fun when you're cooking what is the point. The joy you feel when you sing to your food flows into the food and can be felt when the final product is eaten."

"Bella honey did I just hear you say you sing to your food?" Alice asked with the same look on her face as Rose had a moment ago.

"Well yeah, I mean I sing to the music while it is playing, I'm usually hands deep in some kind of food so I guess you could say I am singing to the food. People talk to their plants so why should we not sing to our food?" I responded. Alice and Rose just shook their heads and looked at me like I was crazy.

"Next step is to get all of your items together and prepped." We began to check our recipes and worked on getting the items together that we needed. I noticed Alice and Rose both began to bop their heads to the music and when Paradise reached its climax so to speak all three of us were signing to each other.

_I started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave  
That I would love you to the end of time  
I swore that I would love you to the end of time!_

_So now I'm praying for the end of time  
To hurry up and arrive  
Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you  
I don't think that I can really survive  
I'll never break my promise or forget my vow  
But God only knows what I can do right now  
I'm praying for the end of time  
It's all that I can do  
Praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you!_

"Man I love that song." Rose said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. We were once again laughing until we cried by the time we had finished singing the song at the top of our lungs. We half expected the neighbors to come and yell at us to shut up.

"Yeah who knew teenage lust could lead to a life wishing for death." Alice said as she calmed herself down.

The next song that came on was slower and helped us to gain our focus and we got started on our task. As we began prepping the items to be cooked, I explained to the girls that the name of the game was team work when it came to couples cooking. Both of them should have individual tasks and that each of them should use as many of their senses as possible. By that I meant each one of them should use their hands, their eyes, their noses and their sense of taste when they were prepping. They should also talk while they were working. Silence was not an option; otherwise they might as well be alone. Cooking together would give them a chance to really be together. They could talk about anything or they could sing together just so long as they were together.

As we worked together to prepare the two meals we carried on casual conversations about our relationships, about school, about music, about everything really. It felt good to include Rose in Alice and I's bond and I could quickly see her always being a part of that now.

Once we had the Pot Roast and the Chicken Marsalis in the oven we began to tidy up the kitchen. We were dancing around to the music as we cleaned and by the time Nine Inch Nails' _Closer_ came on we had abandoned the mess and were dancing and singing closely with each other.

We had gotten so lost in the music we didn't hear the guys come back in, we didn't notice the three of them standing in the doorway watching the three of us dancing with each other, didn't see the look of desire on their faces until Emmett grabbed our attention.

"Fuck me!" He said.

EPOV

The meeting had been long and drawn out and all the three of us really wanted to do was get back to our ladies. We knew they were going to be cooking together and each of us was looking forward to whatever great meal was waiting for us back at Rose's place.

As we approached the apartment door we could hear music and the muffled sounds of them singing. Emmett opened the door with his key and called Rose's name as he went in but she didn't answer. We figured maybe they couldn't hear us over the music.

The apartment smelled amazing although it was hard to figure out exactly what they had cooked because it smelled like so many different things. We all headed to the kitchen and all three of us stopped dead in our tracks as we took in the sight in front of us.

Bella, Rose and Alice were dancing with each other. Very close to each other, practically on top of each other, hell they were grinding each other and holy shit they were singing _Closer._

I watched Bella dance in the middle of Alice and Rose. The way she swayed to the music in between them, it was the most erotic thing I had ever seen, that was until I heard the words of the song coming out of her mouth.

_(Help me)  
Tear down my reason  
(Help me)  
It's your sex I can smell  
(Help me)  
You make me perfect  
Help me become somebody else_

I wanna fuck you like an animal  
I wanna feel you from the inside  
I wanna fuck you like an animal  
My whole existence is flawed

You get me closer to God

Her eyes were closed as she was singing and the look on her face was carnal. I could only hope and pray that it was my face that she was seeing in those beautiful brown pools of desire.

The three of us stood there frozen, the good lord only knowing what was going through our minds when Emmett broke the silence with two little words that said oh so much.

"Fuck me!" He said while trying to catch his breath.

The girls froze at the sound of his voice and all three of them looked at us, than at each other and collapsed into a pile on the floor laughing. The sight of them sprawled out on the floor, all on top of each other, their bodies vibrating with laughter was not helping the uh _situation_ at all! I loved Bella with all of my heart and would never ever think about being with anyone other than her even if she was there, but damn I am a man and the vision before me was just well Georgia Asphalt! The longer the three of us stood there dazed the harder the three of them laughed.

The timer going off on the stove finally broke the laughter. The girls got up off the floor and pulled a dish out of the oven while checking on another one in there.

"Perfect timing boys." Bella said her voice raspy from laughter. "The Pot Roast still has a bit longer but the Chicken Marsalisis ready." She came over and gently closed my mouth withher hand before kissing me lightly on the lips. I hadn't realized my mouth was opened.

"Hungry?" She whispered in my ear and I knew she didn't just mean the Marsalis. She walked back into the kitchen and helped the other two get plates and glasses together to serve dinner.

I couldn't move other than a slight nod yes of my head that came too late for her to see. All of my blood had rushed south and rendered me useless. I was trying to draw it back up but was finding the task to be very hard. No pun intended!

As my brain began to function again I could see Jasper and Emmett bothin the same state as me. Alice walked in front of the three of us with the dish of Marsalisand waved it under our noses before walking past us to the dining room table. As my mouth began to water I could feel my other senses kicking back in and I turned to follow Alice. The other two followed suit shortly after me.

The girls talked and laughed as we ate. Jasper, Emmett and I just sat there like dumb struck morons, which of course would bring new fits of laughter to the girl's when they tried to engage us in conversation. I didn't know about the other two, but my mind was racing all over the place.

After dinner, we told the girls we would clean up the kitchen, after all it was the least we could do. I think that was the fastest a kitchen has ever been cleaned and it was spotless. Jasper and I wanted to get out of there and Emmett wanted us out.

As we said our goodbyes, Alice and Bella hugged Rose and Emmett goodbye.

"Let the roast sit for an hour before you wrap it up to put away. Hope you two enjoy it tomorrow night." Bella said before she leaned into her hug with Rose.

"Thank you Bella for everything." Rose said. "I love you sweetie!" I could see Bella's eyes mist up at Rose's words as one of her radiant smiles graced her lips.

"See you all tomorrow." Emmett said as he quickly closed the door. I silently cursed him for getting to the place I wanted to be long before I could.

The ride home was slow and painful and once we got to the dorm, I practically picked Bella up and carried her into the building. We said our goodnights to Alice and Jasper and headed back to my room. As I closed and locked the door, Bella put her bag down on the table. When she turned around she had the sexiest grin on her face I had ever seen. I made a quick mental note to myself to add _Closer_to my Bella playlist. It was the last non passionate thought I had before I went over to her and let my desire for her overtake both of us.

The next day was Valentine's Day and I had a romantic dinner for us at IlTerrazzo Carmine planned. It was the restaurant we went to on our first date and I knew it would mean as much to Bella as it did to me. I never thought I would be one of those guys who got all mushy over Valentine's Day, but I couldn't help myself. I had roses sent to her room, gave her a little box of candy hearts on our walk to class and had a heart shaped box of chocolates to give her along with my other gifts at dinner.

I tried my damnedest to find a card that said exactly what I was feeling, but they either seemed too generic, too sticky sweet with false sentiment or too wordless to express how I felt. In the end I made my own card. I drew a picture of a pair of hands carrying a heart. A heart that had the words Bella written on it. On the inside of the card I handwrote the e. e. cummings poem I had learned and recited to Bella numerous times. Those few lines said more about the way I felt for her, than any card Hallmark or any other greeting card company could ever think of.

I arrived at her dorm room door promptly at 6:30 pm. The radiant vision that greeted me at the door left me breathless. Bella was wearing a dress that just flowed on her. The dress had straps that were jeweled and graced her collarbone as they moved down the front in a horse shoe shaped U. The fabric gathered almost in a bunch around her breasts and tiny waist but then widen and hung loosely yet gracefully down her body. And the dress was ivory. Images of Bella in an ivory wedding dress on our wedding day invaded my mind and damn near brought tears to my eyes. If I would have had a ring I would have dropped down on one knee and asked her to marry me right then and there.

She wore her hair down and it flowed over her shoulders in similar fashion to the way the dress flowed down her body. She wore the bracelet I had gotten her for Christmas and no other jewelry. Her eyes were dark and very smoky looking and made the color of them almost scream out at you for attention. Other than her amazing eyes and a slight pink blush to her lips she wore little else as makeup.

"Bella…you…look…" Words failed me. Not word came to my head that could properly convey what I thought of her beauty at the moment.

"Thank you." She said as she walked up to me and gently kissed my cheek. "You look very beautiful tonight yourself Edward." She smiled as she pulled away and went to grab her jacket and small purse from her bed.

She handed me her jacket to help her put it on which I regretted instantly having to do. It was very cold outside and she would need the jacket to keep her warm, but it saddened me to have to hide this magnificent piece of art until we were at the restaurant.

Our ride to the restaurant was quiet but in a comfortable way. I was actually glad because it allowed the vision of Bella in a wedding dress on our wedding day to overtake my mind. I could see us there standing in front of the minister, could see our first kiss as man and wife, could see our first dance to _At Last_, could see us shoving cake into each other's faces and could see all of the love in the world in her eyes as she looked up at me as we said our final goodbyes to our families. The vision of her in that dress, of the love that I knew I would feel for her at that moment and that she would feel for me overwhelmed me and I didn't realize I had tears rolling down my face until I felt Bella's hand on my cheek.

"Edward love, what's wrong." She was looking at me with so much concern on her face.

"Absolutely nothing my grace, I was just thinking about you on our wedding day."

"Edward." Her voice cracked as she said my name. I took the hand she held to my cheek and brought it to my lips, kissing it gently. She looked away for a moment and I could see her wiping her own face with her other hand.

Once inside the restaurant, I helped Bella out of her jacket and I heard the Maître D's breath catch as he took her jacket from me and the vision of her captured him. "Wow." He quietly said to himself, but loud enough for us to hear.

"Thank you." Bella answered him with a blush on her face that I thought was going to bring him to his knees.

He stood there for a moment gathering himself and then he looked up at me.

"I'm very sorry sir. I shouldn't have." He said.

"No problem, happens to me all the time." I said while giving him a wink.

As we made our way to the table, I could see heads all over the restaurant turn to look at Bella. I held my head up high with great pride knowing this beautiful creature was mine.

The dinner menu for that night was a five course tasting of foods that were red in some way. We would start withthe tomato basil soup. Next we would have roasted red peppers stuffed with pancetta, orzo and fontinacheese. Our third course was going to be a tomato mozzarella salad with basil and extra virgin olive oil. Our fourthand main course would be Lobster Ravioli withtomato sauce and our fifth and final course would be raspberry panna cotta.

I couldn't help but marvel at Bella with each soft moan that escaped her lips as she tasted the different courses. Her eyes closed and she hummed in contentment as she finished each bite. It was so sexy.

As we waited for our final course I pulled her gifts out of my inside jacket pocket and slide the box of chocolates, two small jewelry boxes and my card over to her. She opened the car first and she held her breath making that noise I love so much when she saw the front of the card.

"Edward did you do this?" She asked looking up at me. I could see her eyes misting up.

"Yes."

"I didn't know you could draw like this."

"On occasion." I smiled back at her.

She opened the card and when she saw it was the poem, the tears in her eyes fell down her face.

"Thank God for waterproof eyeliner." She chuckled as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Her eyes glowed as she opened the box with tear drop sapphire earrings and then misted up again when she opened the box that held another charm for her bracelet. It was a small heart with my name on it.

"I'm giving my heart to you Bella. I think you always knew you had it, but I wanted to make sure. You will always have my heart my love." I held my hand out for her wrist and I took her bracelet off, adding the charm to it and then placing it back on her wrist with a kiss.

I could tell she was trying to hold back both tears and giggles as she looked up at me. I couldn't figure out what would cause her to laugh let alone try to hold it back.

"What is it my love?" I asked her.

She withdrew her hand from mine and reached for her bag, pulling out a small wrapped box and handing it to me.

"Bella you already gave me a gift." I began to protest. Earlier in the day she had given a box of heart shaped sugar cookies that she had made and three new cookbooks for us to cook our way through. The cookies melted in my mouth they were so good and I couldn't control the grin that took over my face at the knowledge of more lessons in the kitchen with Bella.

"Just open it silly." She said

I opened the box to find a gold keychain inside. The keychain was heart shaped and Bella's name was written on it.

"I'm giving my heart to you Edward." She said and could no longer hold back her giggles.

I couldn't help my own chuckle as I leaned into her and kissed her lips.

"Great minds think alike." I said.

"Loving minds think alike." She corrected me as she returned my kiss.

After our final course and more glorious sounds coming from Bella as she tasted the panna cotta I asked her what she wanted to do next.

"Go home." She said her voice low and as smoky as her eyes.

I nodded my head yes and silently thanked the universe for her desire.

Bella had brought a few items of clothes down to my room so we didn't have to stop by her room before going to mine.

Once we were back in the room and our jackets were properly hung up I pulled her into me and kissed her, soft at first but then she opened her mouth and began to tease my tongue with her own. I softly traced my fingers down her back until I found the zipper for her dress.

"As much as I hate to take this dress off you my love, it is just too perfect to ruin in anyway." I said as I lowered the zipper. I stepped back from her and watched as she lowered the straps of the dress and slowly let it fall off her body. I held my breath when I saw the corset and lace panties she was wearing under the dress.

"Alice?" I asked as I took her dress and hung it up for her. I definitely planned on her wearing that again and did not want to see it messed up in any way.

"Rose actually." She answered.

"Be sure to thank her for me." I said as I took her earlobe into my mouth. I picked Bella up and lowered her down on the bed as I slipped out of my clothes. I couldn't take my eyes off of my beauty in white, laying there on my bed, the moonlight trickling in from the window and illuminating her even more than she already was.

I joined her on the bed and as I lowered my head into her neck and began to kiss her soft skin. I repeated the word beautiful over and over again between each kiss.

My fingers began to explore her graceful body as I kissed her neck and ear. As beautiful as she looked in the corset and panties, I wanted to feel her skin. I pulled back for a moment to remove the offending garments from her body stopping to drink in the beauty of her naked body swimming in the moonlight.

Everywhere that my fingers explored, I followed shortly thereafter with kisses. I allowed myself to linger on her perfect breast, suckling each one, loving the way she arched her back up driving her further into my mouth. I pulled back and let me tongue tease her nipple, that being the only contact I allowed my mouth to have with each one. As I increased the rate at which I teased her, she moaned and I could feel her body start to quiver under me. I knew it wouldn't be long before she came and I wanted her to so very badly.

All night, with each blissful noise that escaped her mouth as she ate this need to feel her body quiver around me slowly build and began to consume me. I wanted her release more than I wanted my own.

As I continued to tease her nipples, I slide my fingers down her center and began to strummer her lightly as if she were the stings of a guitar. The instant I touched her she bucked her hips into my palm and she said my name.

I could feel her getting closer to the edge and I slide my fingers further down until the tip of my finger was inside of her. I moved it slowly in and out of her, not allowing it to delve to deeply in at first. I heard her whimper as she lifted her hips up higher trying to drive my finger into her deeper.

"Edward." She begged. I loved the sound of my name coming from her when she was like this.

"Say my name again love." I said as I pulled out of her completely.

"Edward." She begged.

I let my fingers linger just outside of her entrance, teasing her.

"Say my name love." I said to her again.

"Edward. Edward please." She whimpered.

I slowly dipped one than another finger inside of her and began to work them in and out of her.

"Is that what you want my love?"

"Edward, yes Edward please."

I could feel her body began to quiver and I knew she was close to hitting the edge and falling over. I pulled my fingers almost out of her completely and then quickly plunged them back into her, going deeper inside then I had allowed them before now.

"Edward, oh God yes Edward." She moaned. I could feel her getting closer, feel the muscles of her body tightening around my fingers. I curled them into her, taking my thumb and strumming her as my tongue resumed teasing her nipples. I knew the combination of the three would be all she needed to fall over and sure enough within seconds of my triple delight she was panting, her body stiffened and I could feel her release in every ounce of me.

"Edward, Edward, Edward." She repeated my name over and over again. Screaming my name at first but then slowly fading it into a whisper as she slowly came down from her ecstasy.

"Edward teasing my like that was not a very nice thing to do." She said as she opened her eyes and looked at me for the first time since I began to explore her body.

"Didn't you enjoy it my love?" I asked with a sly grin on my face.

"I image you could feel how much I enjoyed it." She answered me.

"So do you not want me to do it again?" I asked her as I began to softly kiss her lips.

"No…um…maybe…I…mean…yes." She said as she kissed me back.

I moved my body so I was lying on top of her now, nestling myself in between her thighs. She opened her legs up to me, opening herself up to me.

I slowly pushed into her, finding a gentle rhythm as I stared into her eyes. I was in no rush. I wanted to linger inside her warmth for as long as I possibly could.

"Thank you Bella." I said, never losing contact with her eyes as I moved slowly back and forth inside of her.

"For what my sweet Edward." She asked her eyes intently joined with mine.

"For wearing that dress tonight, for giving me a glimpse into our wedding day. For loving me so much that I know I will see our wedding day. Because more than anything in this world I want you to know that one day I will ask for your hand in marriage."

I stopped my slow rhythm to pull back slightly from her, placing my hand on her stomach. "That one day I will reveal in the feeling of our babies moving inside of you. That I will cry as I watch them coming into this world. That I will thank God everyday for you and that I will grow old with you and that you will always, always be the most beautiful person in the world to me."

I could feel her tears falling into my hands as I moved them closer to her.

"Edward, I want all of those things with you. Want to squeal like Alice when you ask me to marry you and tell you yes, yes, yes over and over again. I want to see the smile on your face when I tell you that we are pregnant, see the love in your eyes when you hold them for the first time. I want to remember all of the wonderful little things about you that make me love you more than life itself. And I do Edward, I love you with all that I am and all that I ever will be, I'm forever yours.

"I love you too Bella. Forever and ever, my heart is yours." I whispered to her as I kissed the tears from her eyes.

I slowly returned to my rhythm inside of her, moving back and forth with her as she moved forward and back with me. Each movement was a dance between our bodies. Each movement bringing me deeper into her body and deeper into her heart. Each movement only increasing in speed as we both grew closer to and then finally reaching release.

We made love like that for hours, slowly and sweetly. Words of love intertwined with movements of love. We stayed like that until our bodies had nothing physical left to give. Afterwards I snuggled her into me, as I whispered our poem into her ear and thanking her over and over again for drawing me into her and never ever letting me go.

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A/N: So there you have it. Please let me know what you think. There will be an Epilogue soon that will give us a glimpse into our love birds futures.

Thank you for allowing me to indulge in my love for cooking, film and writing. Hope you all enjoyed it and look forward to more stories to come.

With much love!


	26. Epilogue

**SM owns all things Twilight but it has been my great honor to own this story.**

**Thank you all of your interest and love. It has been a great joy to write this story.**

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**Epilogue**

I began to gather my wallet, keys and change and put them into the pocket of my suit pants. As I was picking up the change my pewter angel coin caught my attention and I pulled it out of the coins and looked at it. It was always with me, had been every day since Bella had given it to me for Christmas.

It didn't always catch my attention like it had currently but instinctually I always knew it was there, a reminder of the love that Bella had for me.

Looking at it I could see that it was worn and that the angel was starting to look a little weathered. Of course ten years would do that to something.

_Ten years._

It was still hard to believe sometimes that it had been ten years since Bella came into my life making me the luckiest man alive. They had been the best ten years of my life and I prayed everyday for many, many more years to come.

As I thought about our first ten years, my mind was flooded with memories, oh so many wonderful memories.

When I was accepted to medical school at the University of North Carolina, Bella was so thrilled for me, despite the knowledge that I would be clear across the country. She was happy for me because she knew that was where I really wanted to go. We talked about the possibility of her transferring schools but in the end it was decided that she would finish her degree in Communications at UW. It was a long, hard two years, but we persevered, spending as much free time as we possibly could together and in the end I think it made our relationship even stronger if that was possible.

After Bella graduated she moved to Chapel Hill with me to get an M.A. in Mass Communications from UNC. She finished her Masters at the same time I finished Med School. I applied several different places throughout the state and country for my residency but the one I really wanted was in Wilmington, NC. Bella and I had gone there many, many times and we just fell in love with the area and both of us had decided that if we could live anywhere, we wanted to live there.

We were both thrilled to death when that was indeed where I was going to my residency. It was hard on our parents, especially Bella's to learn that we would be so far away from them, but all they ever wanted was for us to be happy and they knew this is what we both wanted.

I thought back to when I asked her to marry to me. After we both finished school, I rented a house on Bald Head Island for the weekend, a chance for us to get away from research and exams and everything else and just be with each other for a change. Bald Head Island, NC is like heaven on earth and it seemed like the perfect place to ask for Bella's hand in marriage, I just wasn't sure when or where. I carried her ring with me everywhere that weekend, waiting for the perfect moment. We went out for a walk on the beach our second day there to collect sea shells. Bald Head Island is well know in the area for being a great place to go shelling and Bella was very excited about what she would find. We had been walking for about an hour, Bella stopping every few feet to collect shells. She was a vision to watch, her hair blowing in the wind, the sunshine reflecting beautifully off her hair, bringing out the red in her locks. As I watched her, this feeling of love washed over me and I knew, knew with all of my heart, that this was the perfect time. I bent down to find the perfect shell, mirroring her actions to a tee. She was just ahead of me and focused on shelling and I was able to take the ring out of my pocket without her knowing it.

"Bella come look at this shell I found." I said to her. I was kneeling down on one knee, holding a shell in my hand, the ring underneath the shell. She didn't seem to think too much about the way I was kneeling. I guess she thought it was just how I had stopped to pick up the shell.

She walked over to me and pulled the shell out of my hand. "Edward, this is just beautiful. This one is a…" Her words halted as the ring in my hand caught her eye. She suddenly seemed to be aware of how I was kneeling and her eyes filled with tears.

"Bella, as I kneel here on the beach of one of the most beautiful places on earth, looking at the most beautiful woman in the world, I know with all of my heart that you were made for me. I love you more and more each day. We were meant to be together, forever. Bella, will you share forever with me? Isabella Swan will you marry me?"

We both knew I was going to ask her one day, that one day she would say yes, but she still seemed so surprised and so full of love at that moment.

"Edward." She whispered as the tears streamed down her checks, a smile lighting her face up like a Christmas tree.

She held out her hand for me to take and I gently slid the ring on to her finger. She still hadn't said yes but the look on her face spoke volumes.

"Yes." She whispered at first but than her words grew louder and louder. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" She said until she was squealing the words, rivaling Alice at her best. She flew into my arms, knocking me off balance, both of us landing in each other's arms in the sand.

She peppered my face with quick excited kisses before she rested her soft lovely lips on my own and gave me a kiss that poured with emotions. As we laid there lost in our moment the water began to slowly edge closer and closer to us before it finally rolled underneath us. We both got soaked but neither of us cared. We just stayed there, consumed by our love for one another, locked in a passionate moment that would have given the scene in _From Here to Eternity_ a run for its money any day!

I thought back to our wedding day. The images that I had been flooded with of Bella in an ivory wedding dress all those many Valentine's Days ago, paled in comparison to the stunning beauty that appeared before me as she walked arm and arm down the aisle with Charlie. She was literally breath taking. It took my dad's hand on my shoulder and Emmett's smirk to draw me out of my trance and the breath back into my lungs.

We decided against traditional vows, instead each of us reciting our poem to the other, a poem that to this day I know we each will remember by heart until we are old and gray and our memories finally fade away completely.

We danced our first dance together to _At Last_, which I know is clichéd and over done, but we didn't care. It is the perfect song for that perfect moment.

I thought back to the day Bella told me she was pregnant. We had been married for a year and I was deep into my residency and currently working in the ER. The hours were long and the people I was dealing with were at one of the worst moments of their lives. The emotions of everything could take hold of me and stay with me for days, that one day in particular. There had been a terrible car crash and a family of four had all lost their lives.

The youngest of the four was a five year old boy named Matthew who I worked desperately to save but in the end was unable to, his injuries just too severe. I fought tears the whole way home that early morning and all I wanted to do was crawl into the loving arms of my beautiful wife.

I walked into our bedroom to find my very own sleeping beauty, the rising sun softly casting a glorious spotlight on her through the blinds. I could feel the pain of the day slowly began to fade away and I knew once I had her in my arms everything would be ok again. I quickly took a shower and as I walked back into the bedroom in nothing but a towel I noticed for the first time a gift box sitting on the nightstand by my side of the bed.

I opened the box to find a small diaper, a small pair of baby shoes and a very small Carolina t-shirt. I stared at the items as I pulled them out of the box, my head still dazed from the previous nights events, trying to figure out what all of these were. I peered into the box one last time and then I saw it, a positive home pregnancy test. I pulled the piece of plastic out of the box and just stared at it for a moment before everything hit me all at once and I fell to my knees and began to sob.

"Edward?" Bella's raspy voice called out to me. "Edward my love what's wrong?" She rushed out of the bed and kneeled down next to me on the floor and pulled me into her arms. Ringlets of water from my still wet hair dropped down, soaking her tank top and skin. In the safe loving arms of the keeper of my heart and soul I began to tell her about the pain of losing Matthew and the joy that I now felt about finding out we were going to have a baby, the tears flowing more freely than they ever have before in my life. She just held me as I cried, not saying a word, just soothing me.

When there were no more tears to shed, my emotions finally clamed, Bella pulled my face up to look at hers. "If it's a boy we will name him Matthew." She said with the most loving smile on her face and she leaned in and kissed my lips.

"Daddy." The magical sound of our two year old drew me from my memories. I quickly kissed my angel coin and put it into my pocket.

"Yes Matthew." I answered him as I turned around to look down at my exact replica standing in the door way of our bedroom. He was the spitting image of me with the one beautiful exception of having his mother's warm brown eyes.

"I go to?" He asked.

"No sweet boy, you are staying here with Ms. Sadie." Bella's heavenly voice answered him as she walked into the room. I picked Mathew up and we turned to take in the vision of the love of our lives. She was dressed in a simple black dress, her hair swept up perfectly in a twist. She was wearing the sapphire earrings I had gotten her so many years ago, the necklace her parents had gotten her for Christmas. On her wrist was the charm bracelet that I had gotten her that same Christmas. A bracelet that was now filled with so many charms that it hung gracefully from her wrist, her beautiful wrist that was now gently resting on her ever growing belly.

I walked Matthew and I over to her so that each of us could give her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"My sweet boys." She sighed as I put my hand on her belly and felt the baby kick.

"She does that every time you touch my belly. She is so going to be a daddy's girl and will so have you wrapped around her little finger."

"Like mother like daughter my vision of love." I answered her as I kissed her softly on the lips.

She crinkled her nose up at me and held up her arms to take Matthew.

"No my beautiful wife, he'll mess your dress up and we wouldn't want to do anything to alter this stunning masterpiece that now stands before us. I'll take him to Ms. Sadie."

I walked Matthew down to the kitchen where Sadie, our nanny was putting his dinner on a plate for him.

"Are you ready to eat little man?" Sadie asked Matthew. He began to squeal with delight at the sight of macaroni and cheese on his plate.

I placed him in his high chair, kissing him on the head before heading back up to the bedroom to finish getting ready for the evenings events.

When I reached the bedroom door, I stopped short of walking in; the sound of Bella talking to our daughter filling my heart with love.

"I know sweet girl, your daddy's touch makes me all jumpy too." She was sitting on the bed, her arms around her beautiful belly, looking down and talking to it. "The first time I touched him I got just as jumpy as you do. It was just a simple handshake, but his touch took hold of my heart and never let go. Your daddy is very special, he saved my life. He's like my own superhero. He is my world, but I am more than happy to share him with you and Matthew, because his heart is big enough to love all of us the same." She kissed her hand and then put it on her belly, stood up from the bed and went back to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

I just stood there letting the tears fall down my cheeks. My Bella never failed to amaze me and every day, even after so many years, I still fell more and more in love with her.

I waited for a minute before I finally went into the room. I didn't want Bella to know that I had witnessed her little talk with our daughter.

"Bella sweetie, are you about ready? I told Charlie we would pick them up at 7:30." Charlie retired from the Forks police department two years ago, about the same time Matthew was born oddly enough. Although he had been with the department for a little over twenty years, he was still too young to retire but he did anyway. Renee and him packed everything up and moved across country to Wilmington. They claimed it was the best place to retire, the weather was warmer, he could still fish and maybe on occasion they would get to see their grandson. Bella and I both knew the truth though. They just wanted to be with their grandchildren.

"As ready as I can be I guess given what I have to work with currently." She said as she walked out of the bathroom.

"You are perfect my love, just perfect." I answered her knowing that she thought she looked bad. In the ten years I was blessed enough to admire the beauty of Isabella Swan Cullen it was when she was pregnant that she was at her most beautiful.

She kissed my cheek gently and then headed for the door. We both kissed Matthew goodbye and made our way out for the evening.

As we drove to Charlie and Renee's I could see Bella growing more and more nervous by the minute.

"Bella Luna, you need to calm down. You have been through this before; you should be an old pro at it by now." I said as I took her hand in mine and kissed her knuckles.

"I know, but all of that attention still makes me nervous." She said trying to calm herself down.

"You deserve all of that attention and more, besides all of your family will be there to help you through."

"And that's the other thing. They were all there at the first launch party so I don't see they felt like they had to come to the second one."

While Bella was in graduate school she did her Master's Thesis on food as a form of communication, her idea being that food speaks for us and about us and therefore should be considered a form of communication. She did two years worth of research, did countless interviews and wrote the most amazing paper on the subject. Her advisor was so intrigued by the idea, she convinced Bella she needed to write a book based on her research. She even went so far as to contact a publisher to pitch the idea to.

A week before we found out Bella was pregnant with Matthew her book, _Cooking with Love_ was published. It was part cookbook, part self-help, part motivational and part humorous look at life. For all of its parts what it equaled was one hundred percent Bella. It was amazing, smart, funny, sweet and touching. And once Oprah got a hold of it, it was everywhere. Almost three years later it still sits on the New York Times bestsellers list.

In two weeks, her second book, _Cooking for Lovers _is going to hit bookstores and tonight is the launch party. It was being held at a huge beach house that had been rented out for the evening in Wrightsville Beach.

"Sweetie, they are coming because they love you."

"But it is too much for them all." She protested, always worried about others.

"If it was too much they wouldn't be here."

"Alice is seven months pregnant." She began to rattle off.

"Yes my love and you are six and a half months pregnant." As hard as it was to believe sometimes, Bella and Alice were pregnant at the same time for the second time. Jasper and Alice's daughter, Addyson was born one month after Matthew was. Their son was due two weeks before our daughter was due. Bella and Alice really were one and the same, platonic soul mates as Alice always said. The fact that the children were either born or due to be born so close to one another and the fact that they were opposite sexes gave Alice even more reason to believe that our kids were destined to carry on that bond to their own children.

"But she is flying. She shouldn't be flying." Bella began to protest again.

Alice and Jasper were flying in from New York City. After Alice graduate from UW she got a job working as an assistant for one of the designers at Gucci. After several years in the business she had enough confidence in herself and had made enough of a name for herself as a designer that she left Gucci and was currently running her own little boutique fashion house. Jasper finished his post-graduate work in Psychology in New York and currently had his own private practice in the city as well as working with several support groups for victims of rape and violence.

"Bella, if she couldn't fly, her doctor wouldn't let her. Besides you know Alice, she wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Ok so what about Emmett and Rose?" She moved on to another target now.

"What about Emmett and Rose?" I asked already knowing where this was going.

"Signing day is in two weeks; Emmett is very busy with last minute recruiting, Rose is opening a new store in three weeks and neither of them has time to spare to trek cross country to see me. Not to mention having to find sitters for their children."

Emmett and Rose were still living in Seattle and they had four children, two girls and two boys. The signing day that Bella was referring to was the last day that high school basketball players had to commit to a college. Emmett was a recruiter for the University of Washington's basketball team. Rose had opened a small clothing store in Seattle which had become quite successful and was about to open another store in Portland. Both stores had the luck and privilege of being the only ones in the area that carried the new spring line of a certain up and coming designer named Alice Whitlock.

"Bella they have all of that worked out. Emmett is working in a last minute visit to a kid in Raleigh and Rose is well, Rose and can run anything she needs to with a phone and her _Rose_ tone. As far as the kids, her parents love having the chance to spoil them at every turn.

"What about your parents Edward. Carlisle is very busy and I know Esme had to turn down a potential top client to be here." Next target acquired.

Dad had recently become the Chief of Staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which did take up a great deal of his time. Mom was still running her own design firm but had several designers on staff now who handled the majority of the work for her, allowing her to focus on other things, like her grandchildren.

"Bella sweetie, first of all, dad is kind of the boss now and if he wants to take some time off, he can. Second of all, the client mom turned down was the wife of the Bulls' new center who wanted her to design a five story dog house. Mom would have turned that one down any day of the week. Third and final do you really think either of them really need an excuse to come and see Matthew. This just gave them a reason." Knowing she was out of targets and we were pulling up to Charlie and Renee's house, I turned to Bella.

"My sweet wife, every one of them would be here no matter what because they love you and want to share this wonderful accomplishment with you. So no more arguing ok, Dr's orders." I winked at her with those words and got out of our Suburban to go and get Charlie, Renee and mom and dad, who were staying with Bella's parents while they were in town.

After several minutes of hugs and kisses we all made our way to the beach house, the rest of our family meeting us there.

The house was done up in a total culinary theme, with tables of food from the recipes in Bella's books everywhere. The doors of the houses were opened so that party goers could meander out on the porches but it also allowed the ocean air to linger in. The combination of smells of the ocean and food was intoxicating.

Squeals of delight erupted in the room when Alice came in and found Bella. They hadn't seen each other in five months and now their two halves were whole again. Jasper and I could only shake our heads with knowing smiles as we gave each other _manly _hugs.

Shortly after the squeals died down from Alice and Bella, they erupted again first when Rose came into the room and greeted the girls and then second when Emmett came in, grabbed both Bella and Alice up at the same time and looked like he was going to spin them around at the same time. Jasper and I both rushed towards them to protect the girls from Emmett when he stopped abruptly and began to complain about the girls weight when a glare from Rose had him quickly change his complaint to him getting too old to do the things he use to do.

Bella spent the evening mingling around the party, talking with different guests. Although she hated to be the center of attention, she handled each conversation with grace and charm. I watched her all night long as she worked the crowd and I saw those speaking to her have the same reaction I had seen so many years ago at her eighteenth birthday party. They were all enamored with Bella, drawn into all that was Bella.

The night began to wind down and our family gathered together out on the second story porch to spend some time together. We had been chatting for a while when I looked at Bella and nodded my head to her, asking her a question she knew all too well. She shook her head yes and I tried to gather the attention of our families.

"My dear sweet family, Bella and I would like to thank all of you for joining us tonight to celebrate Bella's great accomplishments. It has been too long since we have been able to gather together like this as a family and we wanted you all to know how much this means to us." Everyone raised their glasses up in response to my gratitude.

"We also have an announcement to make and are so glad all of you could be here together for this news."

"We already know she's pregnant Edward." Emmett chimed in.

"Emmett!" Several voices went after him at once.

"Aw come on, you all know you wanted to say it, I was just the first to do so." That Emmett shit eating grin plastered all over his face. _God I really did miss him sometimes._

"Yes Emmett, I am most definitely pregnant." Bella answered him. I looked over at her with so much love and placed my hand on her belly. Our little one reacting immediately and moving into my touch, Bella giving me a _told you so_ grin.

"No this news has to do with the book." Bella continued. "The Food Network has bought the rights to my new book and they want to develop a show around it." I could see the pride on her face as she told our family the news. This was one of the few times in her life; I knew she wouldn't mind being the center of attention.

Our family began to shout out congratulations to Bella, drawing her into hugs.

"She didn't tell you the best part though." I said trying to get their attention back. "They have asked Bella to help them develop the show and want her to be one of the Executive Producers." I could only imagine the look of pride coming off of me at that moment would rival the moon for brightness.

A second round of cheers and congratulations wound around Bella, everyone so proud of her and so happy for her accomplishments.

"Wait, Food Networks studios are just around the corner from my studio. Are you going to be spending a lot of time there?" Alice asked bouncing up and down. I could see the look of concern on Jasper's face, fearing she would go into labor right then and there.

"Not until a few months after Gillian is born but yes I will be up there some." She smiled at Alice and I could tell she was excited about the idea of being able to spend some time with her.

"Oh Bella I am so happy I could just…wait…did you say Gillian?" The smile on Bella's face was suddenly replaced with an _oh crap _look.

Matthew's full name was Matthew Jasper McCarty Cullen. It was a very long name, we both knew that but we wanted to pay honor to our friends as well as to the memory of the little boy who lost his life the day I found out about our new life.

When Emmett found out Bella was pregnant for the second time he began to hassle us about the baby's name, trying to figure out ways to have his first name worked into her name. Alice and he even made a bet as to what the name would be and how we were going to work their names into our child's. When Bella found out about the bet, she refused to tell anyone to punish the two of them for betting on our baby.

"Yes Alice, I said Gillian. Her name is going to be Gillian Rose Cullen." We both looked over at Rose who had tears in her eyes. Although she never said anything about her not being represented in Matthew's name, I knew deep down it hurt a little. She mouthed thank you to us both before turning away to dry her eyes.

"Gillian Rose Whitlock." Alice grinned. "Yes I like that, it has a beautiful ring to it."

"Not as beautiful as Addyson Isabella Cullen though." I responded with a grin of my own.

All eyes turned to me suddenly, shocked that I would say something like that.

"What? Ten years has taught me never to doubt Alice and her visions."

Everyone chuckled and shook their heads knowing all too well the truth behind the words I had just spoken.

"I'd like to make a toast." My dad said, raising his glass. "To our Bella and her grace. A grace that the rest of the world is finally going to be privy to, that the rest of us have been blessed to know for years."

"To our Bella." We all said raising our glasses as well.

The love and pride that everyone felt for Bella at that moment overwhelmed me and I was taken back to the first time I saw Bella cooking in my dorm room kitchen. I thought back to the lines of the song she so beautiful sang that night

_Have you ever…held your breath…and asked yourself will it ever get better than tonight._

At that moment, our family awash in the glow of Bella, all of the love we felt for her floating out into the atmosphere, I knew the answer to that question. With Bella around the answer would always be yes. Because no matter how great a moment was, with her, the next one would always be better.

* * *

A/N: Thank you all again for the love you have given this story. I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think!

My next story will be a serious of one-shots called Kiss. Each one will be different short stories that all deal with different types of kisses, first kisses, sexy kisses etc. Some will be funny, some will be sweet and some will be sad. Not all stories will be Bella/Edward centered as some kisses just call for the others to share. I should have the first one up shortly. Hope you will check them out and look forward to getting feedback on them.

Nothing but love to you all!


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